


Within the Crossfire

by kittymannequin



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/F, Smut, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2018-12-17 02:47:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 53,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11842365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymannequin/pseuds/kittymannequin
Summary: Set in a not so far off future, Korra gets sent to Mars to work as Asami Sato's private assistant, a job she could have only dreamed of back on Earth. Dreams seem to come true for some but not without a lot of drama, intrigue, explosions and, of course, a little (A LOT) of awkward romance!





	1. Chapter 1

“Take us back to the start, Korra.” 

“Of course, my love.” 

 

 

**_[SEARCHING QUERIES… ACCESSING DATA… OPENING LOG FILE NUMBER 112113; CODE NAME: Project Future Tech]_ **

* * *

 

  
  


“Hello Korra,” Unalaq said in a quiet voice, motioning to one of the free chairs set around the large round table in the room. “Thank you for joining me.” 

Korra nodded lightly. “Of course, sir. What is it you needed me for?” 

“We have great news for you. A splending new opportunity has arisen and we’re giving you the chance to seize it.” He spoke again, his eyes never once leaving Korra’s until a third figure emerged from a side door, joining them at the table. 

“Evening, Korra.” Zaheer spoke in an even voice as he made his way to the table and sat down at the chair across from both Korra and Unalaq. “Has your uncle told you the great news yet?” 

Korra smiled. “He was just about to.” 

“As I was saying.” Unalaq grumbled, settling his hands on the table. “You’ve been doing great here at the company but we’re transferring you to a new position.” He stated, turning back to face her. “You are to fly to Mars in three days and become the personal assistant of Asami Sato, the CEO of Future Tech.” 

Korra’s eyebrows shot up at her uncle’s words and she barely suppressed her smile. “Seriously?” 

“Yes Korra, seriously.” Unalaq nodded. “Everything is already set up, miss Sato will be expecting you to start on Monday and we’ll be expecting regular updates every week, okay?” 

“Regular updates?” Korra’s brows furrowed. “What kind of updates?” 

Zaheer cleared his throat. “Any kind.” He eyed her carefully. “I know you’re wondering why, and exactly what kind of information we expect you to send us but you see, we’re actually preparing for a cooperation of sorts with miss Sato and we certainly need more information before that whole ordeal goes through.” 

Korra visibly relaxed but her eyes still showed uncertainty. “Are we selling out to her company?” 

Unalaq swallowed. “No, we’re not.” He mumbled, a little more quietly. “Not yet, at least. Which is why we need you there. So I suggest you get packing.” 

Korra grinned widely, shooting up from her chair. “Yes uncle, of course. I guess you already told mom and dad since they haven’t said anything to me?” 

“Of course. They were sad but they understand how much this will mean for your career.” 

Korra softened at the words. “It’ll be hard but we’ll make it.” 

Unalaq nodded his agreement and Zaheer cleared his throat, standing up from the table.

“Well now, your uncle and I have something else to discuss so if you would be so kind…?” 

“Yes, of course sir.” Korra hurried past him, closing the door behind her as she rushed to her desk and started packing to leave for her apartment and start packing. She’d have to make sure to take all the necessary essentials, everything else she could buy there. 

_ I’m just gonna make a list,  _ she thought to herself, grinning at all the prospects that suddenly appeared before her.

That morning she was just another desk assistant working at her uncle’s company in just ten minutes she’d gone from a complete nobody to someone they trusted enough to send to another planet as their representative. 

She couldn’t be happier.

Until she realized she’d left her touchpad in her uncle’s office and groaned at the realization. 

“I can’t go home without it.” She grumbled, walking back to his office door. It’s only then that she saw the door was still open, just barely, she must have not closed properly and just as she put her hand on the door knob, intent on knocking with her other hand and walking in, she heard her uncle’s voice through the small opening.

“This better work, Zaheer, or else-”

“Or else what? You’ll go crawling back to that hole you came from?” Zaheer’s voice sounded menacing and Korra wished she’d just walked in, interrupting them and storming out, but now she was stuck waiting for them to go through yet another fight. 

Korra actually found it sad how two men who set out to start a company together years ago could not go a day without fighting. As her uncle’s assistant, she’d heard a fair share of their fights and she was pretty sure most of the employees have. 

She remained frozen at the door, rolling her eyes at them and waiting for an opportune moment to burst in and grab her touchpad before rushing back out. 

“Listen here. _ ” _ Zaheer spoke again, his voice slightly muffled because of the door. “The situation is too far ahead for us to hesitate with this and it will go as planned. Nothing can go wrong. And as far as the news we got, we will find a way to take care of it. If nothing is worked out, we will do whatever it takes to stop any further advancements, understood?” 

“Whatever it takes? What does that entail, Zaheer? If you’re thinking of destroying the finest creation this company has ever made, you’re insane! I won’t let you do that.” 

“If that is what it takes.” Zaheer added. “We started this whole thing for that goal and we are not about to give up when we are within its reach.”

“No, I refuse to do that. We’ve worked so hard on this and it’s the best thing we’ve ever made and you’re telling me you’d be willing to destroy it for what? Preventing something that wasn’t even ours to worry about in the first place!” Unalaq’s voice grew louder with each word and Korra shuddered on the other side of the door, frowning at his words. 

“Something that wasn’t even ours?” Zaheer’s voice grew louder this time and Korra contemplated for a moment if she should just barge in and get her touchpad before she spends another ten minutes camping at the door. 

She felt bad, of course she did, but by how much these two fought on a daily basis, everyone in the company had already grown accustomed to it and she was among the many that never even batted an eye at their fights anymore. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Unalaq, but was it not your idea to use this to get to the means? Was it not your greedy hands that worked on the project itself?” Zaheer’s questions were met by silence but only briefly before he continued. “You will do as we’ve agreed and that is the last of it. We have been starving for something, a means to prosper for so long, Unalaq, and you want to run away now? No, we must seize what we have been offered and if this is what has to be done, it will be done.” 

Silence followed for a few moments again and this time Korra hurried to use the distraction, knocking sharply on the door and apologizing profusely for disturbing them, their frowning, scowling faces reproachfully following her every step as she fetched her touchpad and rushed back out to hurry home from work and start the imminent process of packing. 

The moment she stepped inside her apartment, Korra sighed in relief as she toed out of her work shoes and stretched her toes as far as she could before raising her arms above her head and stretching those as well, humming contently when the faint sounds her sore muscles made penetrated the silence of the room.

She looked around the small, half-empty space and her brows furrowed slightly for a moment when she noticed a small envelope on her kitchen table. She remembered her mother’s letter - because her mother still loved the feeling of actual paper in her hands, rather than just speaking to a microphone and letting the email sender do the rest - but she shook her head and hurried off, shrugging out of her jacket and settling it on the hanger. 

Korra really hated packing, but just the mere idea of what this meant, what moving to Mars would mean for her, made her thrilled to the bone. She could already envision a life much better than the one she was already having, not that it was a bad one.

In fact, her life was everything but bad.

She had a wonderful family back home, her mother and father were nothing short of wonderful and her uncle, albeit a little strange, was nice in his own way. He made sure she had a nice play to stay, a safe and well-paying job and thanks to the galas his company often had, Korra even managed to have a fairly social life. 

But going off to Mars, one of the first planets Earth had ever been to, was something of a dream come true. Even more so because of the new position she’d get to work at.

Asami Sato’s personal assistant. 

_ Damn,  _ Korra thought to herself as she stirred her coffee gently, making sure not to spill any,  _ I’m going to give it my all and show her I can be the best assistant she’s ever had.  _

As she sat down to enjoy the warm beverage in her hands, her thoughts strayed to her uncle and his partner, and the fight she was all but forced to hear back at the company. It would be a miracle if anyone except those two had any idea what it was about, and Korra wasn’t one to doubt them, but something about the harsh way Zaheer spoke to her uncle made Korra feel more uneasy than she’d ever felt about their numerous fights. 

And what exactly did they mean by ‘regular updates’? Was she supposed to check in on a weekly basis and share what’s she managed to gather, with them? Or were they expecting something more… explicit? 

Korra shuddered at the thought. 

If her uncle wanted her to share classified Future Tech information he would certainly end up disappointed because no matter how much good he’s done for her, Korra was not about to just stab her new employer in the back, no matter what kind of merger plans her uncle had in mind. 

As she set the mug back down on the counter and made her way towards her room, Korra decided then and there she’d make sure to be discreet and efficient in her work, doing her job as any professional and excellent assistant would. And if it meant her uncle wouldn’t exactly be all that pleased with her, well - good thing she was leaving  _ everything _ behind.

* * *

 

Korra didn’t remember much from the trip to Mars. 

It was warm, it was comfortable and she slept through most of it. 

Her uncle came to say goodbye to her at the station, and as she boarded the large cruiser designed for civilians and space travel, she couldn’t help but wonder once more about his intentions. But alas, it wasn’t her job to question his intentions, and she’d already decided on her course of actions in case his demands turned out to be unconventional. 

She didn’t know what exactly to expect upon her arrival but nothing could have prepared her for what was actually there when she took in the sights in front of her as they were led out of the ship and onto the planet’s surface. 

The air, clearly, felt different, seeing as it was probably filtered through at least a dozen filters, and the absolutely gigantic dome around the city was as impressive as she’d thought it would be. 

Korra figured she’d spend her day getting to know the first city built on Mars, as soon as she settled in her new apartment and had something to eat. 

Her uncle made sure to have everything waiting for her when she arrived and she simply pulled out her touchpad, logging onto her account and making sure to follow the directions given by the map on her screen when she entered the city metro. The apartment her uncle got for her was over an hour away from the spaceport and Korra used the time getting to the city centre gazing through the large windows and taking in all the wonderful new sights. 

Her navigation pointed her to a specific metro station and as she stepped out and dragged her large bag out with her, she simply stood there for a few moments, breathing in the air and smiling to herself. 

New life was right there, hers for the taking, and Korra be damned if she wouldn’t use this opportunity. 

So she hurried to her new apartment, sighing happily when she realized just how great the new place looked, with its large windows and open space kitchen that seemed to just mold into the living room, and a bedroom twice as big as the one she had back on Earth.

She dropped her bag and her backpack in the bedroom, intent on using as much of her day as she could, and hurried to the kitchen, picking up her touchpad and browsing through a list of nearby restaurants before she realized she could simply eat out while exploring the city. 

There were still three days left before she had to start working at Future Tech and Korra figured it would be best if she took that time to get to know her surroundings and settle in as best as she could. 

Somehow, though, as hours passed, Korra’s head began filling with all sorts of various insecurities and teeny tiny little doubts about her abilities as an assistant of someone so important as Asami Sato, and by the time Monday rolled around, Korra was a complete nervous wreck.

It took her an hour to decide on an outfit, even though her uncle made sure she had all the newest suits, suit dresses and whichever combination she actually wanted, and her closet was full to the brim after she unpacked the boxes that’d been sent prior to her arrival. 

She was meticulous about her choice, inspecting the outfits, trying out at least five or six different ones before she finally decided on a simple yet very professional-looking design, donning on a pair of elegant black dress pants, followed by a soft maroon coloured shirt that she’d tucked inside her pants, careful to not miss any buttons, after which she put on the matching black blazer she’d gotten with the pants. Deciding on the shoes took another thirty minutes but she went with black heels, not too high so she didn’t have to worry about that too, and when that was done, she hurried to check herself in the mirror, deciding that the least amount of makeup was the best idea she’d had in a long time. 

Korra still had another hour by the time she was finished with getting ready, so she fixed herself up with a quick breakfast and some coffee, making sure to have extra which she could take to work with her. 

As she sat down on the high chair set in front of her kitchen island, Korra finally got to thinking how she actually had no idea who exactly Asami Sato was. Sure, she knew Asami Sato’s name, who wouldn’t? The woman was all over every single newspaper back on Earth, articles about her spanned from the most eloquent, serious engineering issues to the slimiest trash magazines one could find on the interwebs, and yet, Korra had no idea who this woman was. 

She didn’t even know how old Asami Sato was. 

Korra took out her touchpad from her bag, intent on finding out all she could about her new boss, cursing internally for having forgotten to do it sooner, but the time on the device startled her and she nearly knocked her mug of coffee from in front of her. 

“Shit!” She grumbled, rushing through the apartment as she tried hopping into her heels, jumping around on one foot before she had to hold on to the wall to put on the other one. Somehow time had managed to escape her during breakfast and there was a high chance she’d actually end up being late to her first day at work if traffic was slow. She stormed out of the apartment moments later, shoving her touchpad back in her bag and grumbling about her forgotten to-go mug of coffee back in the apartment.

By the time she’d get back to the flat, that coffee would most certainly have gone ice-cold.

* * *

 

**_[ENTRY PAUSED]_ **

“You never told me you were such a mess before we met.” Asami hummed quietly, fingers brushing over Korra’s.

“I was too embarrassed, really.” Korra murmured back.

“That’s alright, sweetie.” Asami looked up at her, lips curling in a tiny smile. “Carry on?” 

“Of course.” 

**_[CONTINUE ENTRY]_ **

* * *

 

Korra did, in fact, get to her first day at work right on time. 

She walked through the impressive large doors of the enormous Future Tech tower set in the very heart of the city, taking in everything around her with eyes wide open and her jaw slack, until a woman approached her with a hurried step, almost knocking her off her distracted feet. 

“Korra?” The woman spoke quietly but sharply.

“Uh, yes.” Korra nodded and reached out to take the woman’s outstretched hand, shaking it lightly. 

“I am miss Sato’s assistant, Li Shing.” The woman pulled her hand back and turned to walk towards the elevator as Korra immediately followed in step. “Well, previous assistant.” She added with a small smile. “I will show you to your desk and miss Sato will see you in fifteen minutes, if you have any questions, you should let me know right now.” The woman said as they walked in the elevator and she pressed the button for what Korra presumed was the top floor.

“I was just wondering why you’re leaving, if it’s not too personal?” Korra said, eyeing the woman carefully.

“Oh no, it’s quite alright. I’ve always wanted to go to Earth and miss Sato was gracious enough to let me transfer to her Earth offices.”  

“I understand.” Korra mumbled with a small smile. “You’ll enjoy it down there.” She added as the woman’s eyes lit up slightly.

“Oh yes, miss Sato did say you are from Earth, that’s so exciting! How is it down there?” 

Korra didn’t really know what to say so silence greeted the woman’s question for a few moments until Korra found her bearings and thought of the simplest answer she possibly could, seeing as she had absolutely no idea what life on Earth was outside the city she’d lived in and the small, easy-going life she’d led so far. 

“It’s rather beautiful and hectic.” 

The woman seemed to get even more excited with those words and she opened her mouth to say something but the elevator bell rang and Korra thanked whatever forces were at hand that she didn’t have to continue the awkward small talk any longer. 

As they stepped out, Korra was first hit with the realization that this place was definitely not comparable to her last workplace, not in the least, and that as big as her desk may have been back on Earth, she was still a complete nobody back there, as opposed to the work space this woman was leading her towards.

Everyone around the large space seemed to either look up or look their way with relaxed smiles on their faces, some clearly working on some things, others simply enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee or chatting among each other. Korra felt lighter just by being here, and working here would be a delight, she figured.

“Here we are.” Li said as she stepped around a rather large desk with different sorts of screens on it. “Your desk, right outside miss Sato’s office.” She smiled at Korra, waving towards the large wooden door that lead to Korra’s new boss. “She’ll be with you in a few minutes, you can go sit on that couch over there and I’ll let you know when you can go in.” 

Korra nodded and moved over to the couch, settling down and pulling her touchpad, making sure to check herself in the tiny mirror application in case something had gone amiss with her outfit or her light makeup. Just as she put the touchpad back in her bag, Li cleared her throat and smiled at her.

“Miss Sato is free now so you can go in. I’ll be here when you’re done to introduce you to all the duties you’ll be performing.” 

“Okay.” Korra mumbled hastily, making her way towards the large door. She turned quickly to the assistant, nervously glancing at her but shaking off her thoughts as the woman nodded and waved towards the door with a large smile. 

“Go on then.” 

Korra knocked a few times and only entered when she heard a resound ‘come in’ from the room. 

The moment she set foot inside the office and lifted her head from the floor to gauge her surroundings, her eyes widened at just how simple the space was. She’d been expecting fashionable, expensive chairs, maybe even some of those old expensive paintings one could still find back on Earth and at least a mini bar of sorts, but despite how cozy the room seemed, how lovely and warm the colours were, there was not much more than a rather large wooden bookcase against one wall, all filled up with actual, real books, a very comfy-looking couch and chairs beside the window and a wooden desk at the far side of the room. 

It’s only then that her eyes settled at the woman sat behind the desk with her head resting on her palm, glasses perched on her nose and her lips pursed as she chewed slightly on her bottom one, probably in concentration, Korra concluded. 

The woman didn’t flinch when Korra approached her desk, nor did she look up, her long, raven hair thrown over one shoulder and her free hand splayed next to the papers on the table that seemed to be taking up all of her attention.

Finally, Korra cleared her throat and her new boss, Asami Sato, tore her eyes away from the papers on her table, meeting Korra’s own for a moment that, in Korra’s mind, suddenly seemed to stretch on forever. Or she’d wished it would.

She really wasn’t expecting this woman to be so… So mind-bogglingly gorgeous. So breath-takingly beautiful, with eyes as green as the grass in summer, and her hair flowing meticulously down her shoulder. 

“Oh, Korra, welcome.” Asami spoke softly, rising up from her chair and offering a hand in Korra’s direction.

Korra shakily took it and just barely managed to stop the hitch of her breath when Asami’s hand enveloped her own and it felt like her body short-circuited or something akin to such a shock. 

“Thank you, miss Sato.” Korra finally managed to mumble back after a few moments of regaining herself and shaking Asami’s hand gently in her own before they both pulled back and Asami gestured for her to sit down.

“Please, just Asami. I don’t like being called miss Sato, it makes me feel too… Formal?” Asami smiled softly at her and Korra grinned sheepishly back.

“Of course mis- Asami.” Korra rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” 

“Finally?” Asami questioned with a small curl at the edge of her lips. 

“I uh.” Korra stuttered before clearing her throat and settling more comfortably in her chair. “I’ve read a lot about your work and what you’ve been doing here on Mars and I kind of, uh, I guess it feels a little like I’m meeting one of my heroes.” 

Asami seemed to be taken aback by her words, with her lips parted in a small ‘o’ and her eyes wide open. It took her a few moments to regain herself as she spoke in that warm, gentle voice again.

“Thank you, Korra. People don’t usually tell me they’ve read about my work or that meeting me feels like meeting someone so important to them.” She glanced to the side, eyes settling on one of the large windows. “Usually people don’t see past the tabloid articles and my family’s money, really.” Her gaze settled back on Korra’s and the small tinge of sadness Korra could detect in them made her feel a certain type of discomfort in her chest that she hadn’t ever really felt. 

“I’m sorry.” Korra mumbled, shifting in her seat. “I just hope I can do a good job as your assistant, I’d hate to disappoint.” 

“Oh I hardly think that’s possible,” Asami’s eyes seemed to brighten once again, “You do come with great references and I’ve spoken to your, uncle is it?” 

Korra nodded.

“He’s got nothing but words of praise for you. In fact, all your previous coworkers we’ve contacted have nothing but words of praise and adoration for you.” 

“My coworkers?” Korra stared at her in confusion.

“Standard procedure, I have to know a little more about the people I’ll be working with. There’s always more under the surface.” She winked, literally winked, and her lips curled in a sort of smirk that made Korra’s breath hitch, this time without her being able to actually stop it. Asami only smiled wider when Korra’s cheeks turned a redder colour.

“Of course.” Korra mumbled, trying to hide her face by running a hand through her hair. 

“Why don’t you tell me a little more about yourself?” Asami asked, leaning on the table, chin resting in her palm. “I know what’s in your resume, but I’d like to hear more from you. What can you tell me about yourself?” 

For a moment, Korra sorely regretted not having a life interesting enough to actually talk about, she even felt momentarily sad for not having any friends to remember or talk about, no other aspect of her life other than her work. But she pushed the thoughts away, deciding this was definitely not the time to be pondering her life choices and she shook her head with a sheepish smile.

“There’s not much to tell,” She mumbled, “I’m a workaholic, I guess. All I’ve ever focused on so far in my life have been my education and the job at my uncle’s firm. I don’t really have friends to hang out with, not yet here at least, but I didn’t really have any back on Earth either.” 

Asami frowned for a moment but gestured with her hand for Korra to continue.

“The free time I had, I spent at the gym and I love playing whatever kind of video game I can get my hands on. Not really a book person, but I have about a room full of comics back at home.” She grinned slightly before noticing Asami’s warm smile and blushing as she looked away. 

“Well, I don’t expect you to spend your life here at the office, if you ask any of my employees you’ll hear that I am very adamant my workers get all the rest and private time they could possibly need.” Asami slowly stood from her chair, walking around the desk only to come to a stop next to the chair Korra was sitting on and leaning back against the dest. “I will understand if you’re a private person Korra, and nobody will force you to go out and hang around people if that is not what you want.” 

Korra swallowed at the proximity they found themselves in. Somehow being close to her new boss made her nervous in more than a few ways and Korra didn’t really know how to deal with these new feelings Asami’s managed to elicit in her. She knew what they were, of course she did, but good gods, did she really have to go and start crushing on her new boss the second she saw her? That was the last thing she should have done. In fact, that shouldn’t have happened at all but Korra couldn’t really help it - Asami was astonishing, in all aspects. 

And her sad social life aside, Korra still had urges. And needs. And Korra like pretty girls which, unfortunately, Asami definitely was.

In all honesty, if anyone asked Korra, it should have been illegal to look so good in a pencil skirt. Or look so good at all.

“Korra?” Asami’s voice brought her back from her thoughts. “Still with me?” Asami had a wicked smile on her lips and Korra was sure her cheeks and neck were on fire by now.

“Uh, yeah, I’m so sorry, I got a little, uh, a little lost in my thoughts there.” Korra stumbled over her words, eyes sheepishly staring into Asami’s own. “I apologize.” 

Asami chuckled. “It’s quite alright.” She reached over, brushing away a stray lock of hair from Korra’s cheek, the back of her finger brushing slightly over it. Their eyes met at the contact and Korra didn’t even bother trying to stop the hitch in her breath this time. Really, it was inevitable and she already knew she was in trouble. 

Oh, she was in trouble alright. 

Asami seemed to catch herself in the next moment and pulled her hand back, pushing herself away from the desk and reaching for her bag that was sat down beside it.

“Come on,” She murmured with a smile as she turned back to face Korra, “Let’s go grab some lunch.” 

Korra remained frozen in her seat, eyes following Asami’s form as she circled the desk once more and came to a stop next to Korra. “Lunch?” 

Asami quirked an eyebrow at her. “Yes, lunch with my new assistant, who I’m very eager to get to know much,  _ much _ better.”

Asami’s voice sounded far too sultry for Korra’s rapidly increasing heartbeat threatening to beat out of her chest, but she managed to stand up, maybe a little too fast she realized a second later, but Asami’s hand was already settling around Korra’s forearm and they were walking towards the door and Korra had a lot of trouble wrapping her head around what exactly had just happened.

Asami seemed to notice her confusion, murmuring as she let go of her arm gently. “Don’t worry, Korra, it’s just a quick half-hour lunch break. I’ve been cooped up in that office since seven in the morning and I really do want to get to know you a little better. My employees matter to me and what kind of a boss would I be if the only thing I knew about you was your name and the numbers I sign under on your paycheck?” She smirked and Korra swallowed before nodding.

“Honestly? A bad one.” 

“Exactly my point.” Asami’s hand found its way back to Korra’s arm and they walked out of the office together as Asami turned to her now former assistant. “We’ll be at that Italian place, text me if I’m needed but we won’t be long, okay?” 

Her assistant only nodded and Asami tugged on Korra’s arm, making her trip slightly over her own feet as they hurried towards the elevator.

“Come on, I’m starving.”

* * *

 

“And that’s basically how a small-town girl like me ended up on Mars.” Korra finished her story as they made their way out of the restaurant, Asami walking beside her with a wide smile on her face. 

“See, I could have sworn you were the high-school jock queen who had a nerdy girlfriend and brought her home to meet her parents after the third date ‘cause you’re that kind of a person.” 

Korra chuckled at Asami’s words. “No, not really. I was a nobody in high-school and I had a boyfriend,” She added air quotes to the word, “ Who shared my anonymity. We used to spend time at the library like a proper couple, telling each other all about our respective crushes.” 

Asami burst out laughing at that, mumbling through it. “Let me guess, he’s bisexual too?” 

Korra grinned. “Nope, actually he’s gay.” 

“Oh, even better.” Asami lightly slapped Korra’s arm before wrapping her own around it and tugging her closer. “Well, that was a rather informative lunch. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with me Korra.” 

“It was a pleasure miss-” Korra’s words died out on her lips when Asami raised an eyebrow at her. “Sorry, Asami.” She rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand as they walked in the Future Tech building and made their way for the elevator.

When they arrived at the top floor, Asami let go of her arm and Korra could barely stop herself from sighing. Somewhere throughout the lunch Asami had taken her to she’d accepted defeat and complied with her feelings and thoughts and was now completely lost and gone in the inevitable abyss of falling for her boss. 

She stared after her with a dazed look as Asami made her way inside her office and her former assistant appeared in sight, stepping in front of Korra and waving a finger to her new desk. 

“You can take the handle now, I’ll be around if you need help but I’m leaving in a couple of days and if there’s anything you need to know, any questions you might have, let me know before I’m gone, okay?” 

“Yes, of course.” Korra smiled at her and sat down.

It took her some twenty minutes to finally get settled at the desk and another twenty to figure out the work applications she’d have to use. It turned out being Asami Sato’s assistant was more than just taking her calls and getting her morning coffee before work.

Asami valued each and every of her workers, as Korra came to realize during their lunch, but she also expected all of them to perform exceptionally and do their job. And Korra had a few things to supervise, she actually had some responsibilities and taking calls was, in fact, the last on the list. 

Sometime a little later in the afternoon, the elevator dinged and Korra looked up just in time to be face to face with two men staring at her, one mildly glaring and the other mostly just confused.

“Who are you?” The one glaring asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My name is Korra, I’m miss Sato’s new assistant. May I help you with anything?” 

The man frowned before the other one took over. “Hi, ignore this grumpy one, I’m Bolin and this is my brother Mako. We’re Asami’s close family friends, we came to check up on some things with her, is she in the office?” 

Korra eyed the carefully, meanwhile searching through a list of contacts on one of the screens in front of her and, after seeing their names on it, she smiled widely at them and nodded. 

“A minute, please.” 

She hurried to the door of Asami’s office, knocked and peered inside, realizing that her boss didn’t even hear her. “Miss Sato?” She called, and to her surprise, Asami actually looked up from whatever it was she was doing at the desk.

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me that?” 

“I-Uh” Korra stuttered but was saved by a voice from behind her.

“Asami?” Bolin called and Korra watched in awe as Asami’s face morphed into a look of delight, her eyes shining up as her lips widened in a smile.

“Let them in.” She quickly pushed herself away from the desk and Korra turned to the men, letting the pass beside her.

They spent some time in the office and Korra used that time to get ahead on some things that were set aside for her to do tomorrow, when the two came back out of the office.

“We’ll be off now,” Bolin spoke first, “She’s still working on her project but make sure to remind her to go home before you leave, okay?” 

Korra nodded. 

“She has a tendency to forget to take care of herself.” 

And you have to make sure she doesn’t forget to eat, or drink, because she gets too engrossed in her work and she just doesn’t realize her body needs sustenance.” Finally Mako spoke again. “So you need to remind her of it and preferably have food waiting for her when you actually do manage to get her out of her daze.”

“Not exactly what assistants are here for but she will be very grateful.” Bolin added.

Korra could only nod in agreement, taking a few mental notes to write all this down and not to forget to buy an extra bagel tomorrow because apparently, Asami had a tendency to get lost in her work.

“Will do.” Korra spoke with a smile, nodding and giving them a little wave before they headed back to the elevator. 

After they left, Korra went back to her work, diligent in finishing up whatever task she could, and making the best impression on her first day. Asami’s former assistant came by a little later to inform her that she’ll be taking off and to check on Asami once more before she was gone.

Meanwhile, Korra lost track of time and as she cleared the last thing on her list on the side of a screen, she looked over to the clock to groan far too loudly, luckily to an almost empty office. 

“Great.” She grumbled, getting up from the chair and putting her touchpad in her bag. “First day and I already stayed overtime for no apparent reason.” Her grumbling continued until she glanced over to the closed door of Asami’s office, remembering that Asami was probably still there - she couldn’t actually say she saw her leave because she herself was so engrossed in her own work that even if Asami had passed beside her, Korra wouldn’t have noticed - and so she took it upon herself to make sure Asami went home as well. She could definitely use the rest and Korra be damned if she let her stay a minute longer, cooped up in that office.

She knocked on the door once, twice, even a third time, albeit a little softer, but to no avail. So she opened the door slowly, peeking inside.

Korra’s lips curled in a smile as her eyes settled on the beauty sat at the large wooden desk, mumbling something intelligible and scrawling over something in her notebook and every once in a while pulling her lip between her teeth in concentration as she pushed the glasses perched on her nose a little further up. Korra found it adorable in more ways than one how this stunning woman, who seemed to command attention of everyone wherever she’d step foot, could also be this absolutely nerdy, stubborn individual who refused to go home and would wrack her brain over her work, completely unaware of whatever was going on around her even hours after everyone had already gone. 

Korra already opened her mouth to speak but shook her head, remembering what her boss had told her hours ago.

“Asami?” She called from the door, eyes intent on the woman at the desk. After silence was the only answer she got, Korra stepped inside the office and closed the door behind her, slowly making her way towards Asami’s table. “Asami?” She asked again, this time a little louder.

Asami’s head whipped up, eyes a little glossy and tired, but her lips spread in the dopiest of smiles and Korra once again felt that odd sensation somewhere in the middle of her chest and tumbling through her abdomen as her own lips widened and curled. 

“Hey.” Asami mumbled and pushed herself to sit more upright, settling her pen aside and stacking the papers. “I forgot about the time again, didn’t I?” 

Korra nodded.

“What time is it?” 

“It’s almost half past six.” Korra mumbled, awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other. 

Asami stopped with her packing and her head snapped to Korra’s. “Wait, what are you still doing here then?” 

Korra shrugged a little sheepishly. “I got a little lost in the stuff I was working on.”

Asami’s shoulders dropped and her lips curled in a small dopey smile as she walked around the table with her bag in one hand and her papers neatly stacked and secure in the other. 

“I got real lucky with you as my new assistant, didn’t I?” Asami said more than actually asked and Korra’s cheeks warmed at her words. “Thank you for coming to get me, I would have probably stayed here till it was really dark outside.” 

“Of course.” 

“Do you need a ride home?” Asami’s eyes shifted and settled on Korra’s own as they made their way out of her office. 

“I-” Korra started but Asami interrupted her.

“I can have one of my drivers take you home, it’s late and I know you live a little further away.” When Korra only rubbed the back of her neck nervously, Asami continued. “I’d drive you myself but I have to admit, I’m just a little bit too tired.” 

Korra hurried to press the elevator button and leaned against the wall as she did so. “No no, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t worry about me.” 

Asami raised an eyebrow at that.

“Uh, okay. A ride home would be really nice.” 

Asami smirked. “Thought so.” 

The elevator started moving and Asami leaned back against the wall as well, her shoulder brushing Korra’s own. The ride was silent and over a little too soon for Korra’s liking, even more so when the warmth on her arm disappeared as Asami moved away. 

There were two cars already waiting outside the building, not that Korra knew how Asami managed to do that, and when Asami approached her own, she gave a little wave.

“See you tomorrow, Korra.”

Korra nodded in response, smiling from ear to ear.

* * *

 

**[** **_END OF ENTRY NUMBER 1.1]_ **

“You did always take care of me, didn’t you?” 

“I’d like to think so.” 

Korra’s arm was warm where Asami’s palm rested on it. “You did. From the very first day, sweetie. 

Korra smiled softly at her, leaning down to press their foreheads together. “You know I’d do anything for you.” 

Asami chuckled quietly before pulling Korra in closer by her waist. “I love you.” 

“Love you too.” 

Korra’s eyes were closed and sleep began taking over when Asami half-whispered again.

“Wait, one-point-one? How many entries do you have?” 

Korra chuckled, pecking Asami’s lips. “All in due time, love. All in due time.” 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> previously: 
> 
> Korra's life got turned upside down when her uncle Unalaq and his business partner Zaheer gave her the great news about an amazing business opportunity. She got to move from Earth to Mars and work as the assistant of none other than Asami Sato, the most successful engineer/business woman in the known world, known for her valiant efforts to help out Mars in their struggles against Earth. Meeting Asami was both nerve-wracking and somewhat enlightening for Korra and after just a brief time spent together, she realized there was something fairly odd going on in both her mind and her heart every time she'd find herself around her new boss. However, little did Korra know what her uncle's actual plans were..

Korra frowned slightly when she walked back in the living room, only to find Asami missing from her spot on the couch and her tea untouched on the small coffee table. 

“Sami?” She called, settling her own cup of tea on the table before she slowly made her way to the door of their bedroom, peering inside. “Sami, sweetie, you here?” Another quick scan of the room showed her Asami wasn’t there either and she was just about to go check Asami’s office when her wife walked out of the bathroom.

“Oh, there you are.” Korra sighed with a smile. “I thought you’d sneaked off to your office again.” 

Asami raised an eyebrow with a smirk, hands searching for Korra as she brought her in for a gentle embrace. “I promised you I wouldn’t.” She hummed, lips pressed to Korra’s temple. “And I won’t.” When she pulled back, Asami was quick to slip her hand into Korra’s, entwining their fingers and pulling her along back to the living room. “I believe you’ve a story to tell me.” 

Korra grinned. “You’re still interested in that?” 

Asami frowned momentarily as she sat down on the couch. “Of course I am, Korra.” Her features softened when she realized Korra was actually really excited about it. “I may remember us and how we came to be here, forty years later, but I’m sure your memory core has so much information stored that you could spend at least a week telling me everything I’d ever want to know of our times together.” She reached for Korra again, brushing a few stray hairs back behind her ear and softly pulling her in.

The kiss was slow and gentle, much like most of the ones they shared, full of reassurances and trust they shared. 

Korra’s eyes shined as she pulled back and settled more comfortably in her seat, one arm stretching out behind Asami and tugging her closer as Asami fidgeted a little and squirmed till she was comfortable enough. With her free hand, Korra pulled the small fluffy blanket over them and leaned in, nose brushing Asami’s cheek. 

“You got that right.” She murmured, lips pressing into the skin there with each word that came out of Korra’s mouth. “You know you can stop me at any point, okay?” 

Asami nodded faintly.

“If anything becomes too much, or you just get bored. Stop me.” 

Asami pulled back only to press her forehead to Korra’s. “Of course sweetie.” 

Korra’s lips widened in a smile. 

“So, where exactly did we stop last time?” 

Asami grinned. “You were telling me all about how you actually got to my company and how you started working for me.” 

“Oh, yeah, exactly. Well, as you know yourself, I was doing great.”

Asami chuckled. “I wish I knew back then what I know now, though. If I had, I wouldn’t have spent so much time wondering how it is you manage all that information and so much more than you were actually supposed to.” 

Korra’s cheeks reddened. “I was pushing myself a little, to be honest. I was literally there till five afternoon every day for two solid months-”

“Oh; I remember,” Asami hummed, “You refused to leave every time anyone told you to because you always had something to finish which would then take another two hours.” 

“It was good work.” Korra grinned, pressing a light peck to Asami’s cheek.

“It was. You were always good at what you do Korra.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Okay so, what exactly happened two months after you started working for me?” 

Korra’s cheeks turned a slight red once more. 

“Well, Asami…”

 

**_[ACCESSING DATA…OPENING LOG FILE NUMBER 112157]_ **

* * *

 

It took Korra a little over two months to learn what it meant working with Asami Sato.

She was used to working hard, it was always in her nature to try hard and do her best, no matter what she was doing, but this job was something she felt she was born for and working with none other than Asami Sato clearly proved that.

She found herself getting ready for work with more excitement each day, and try as she may, she still found it hard to convince herself it had nothing to do with who her boss was and everything to do with the job she was doing. 

Sure, the job itself was fun and interesting and she learn more in a week than she did in two years working for her uncle. She was a diligent assistant, always there to do whatever she was asked and more often than not, Korra found extra work because just sitting at her table, directing people to Asami’s office or taking her calls was not enough. Korra itched to do more, to accomplish something more than she was, she couldn’t pinpoint when the shift happened in her or how she came to want the things she was craving, but somehow she always managed to find something additional to do, something that would, more often than not, keep her at her desk far longer than she was supposed to be there.

But her boss… Her boss, Korra realized, was more than enough reason to come to work every day, on top of wanting to excel and do better with each day.

It took Korra exactly two weeks to learn that Asami Sato was as busy as she was, and then some. 

Asami never went home before five in the afternoon, and never without at least one stack of papers folded in her briefcase, something a whole other stack tucked safely in her arms. She was an exceptional engineer, and her mind worked in ways Korra could hardly comprehend. And on top of that, Asami Sato was the kind of boss any employee could ever wish for.

She was smart and efficient, intelligent in every sense of the word, extremely observant when she wasn’t neck deep in some new designs or contracts and above all, Asami was passionate about her company and the people that worked there.

Each lunch break Korra would take in the company’s cafeteria made her realize that Asami may have built an empire around herself and her company was her life’s achievement, but her employees were more than just that, they sometimes even felt like family, and Korra had the roughest time understanding that. 

Things worked differently back at home, where her uncle was a good boss but one that would never stray from his plans and whose only interest was profit.

Korra learned Asami was the complete opposite of that. She was caring, she made sure to ask people how their day went and she made the most efforts to keep her company, and her people, safe and prosperous. And Korra really enjoyed working with Asami.

So it’s no wonder she found herself having lunch with her boss one day. 

Really, it was just an ordinary Friday and Korra had finished all the tasks she’d set out to finish when she came to work in the morning and all that was left to do was to manage Asami’s time, remind her of meetings and take her calls. It was around one in the afternoon when the usual delivery game appeared at the reception, wide smile on his face when he approached Korra.

She figured the guy had some sort of a crush on her because his eyes would light up every time he’d notice her sitting there and he was overly  _ chipper _ when they talked, but Korra didn’t really think much of it. She had other, more important things to think about and random delivery guy crushes were definitely not on the list. 

When she paid him for the food and settled it on the table, she quickly took two more calls before standing up and taking Asami’s lunch to her office, gently knocking on the door until she heard Asami’s voice telling her to come inside.

“Miss Sato, your lunch is here.” Korra said with a small smile, eyeing her boss. “I’ll set it down on the coffee table but please eat it this time.” Korra found herself saying and felt warmth creep up her neck in an instant after the words left her mouth. “I mean, you barely eat anything when you’re here and yesterday you forgot about lunch again and I’m just, we’re all-”

“Korra.” Asami said with a smile as she finally raised her head from the papers she was staring at and her eyes met Korra’s. “I know what you meant. Thank you for worrying about me, I appreciate it.”

Korra smiled and headed towards the door when Asami spoke again. 

“Actually, Korra?” 

“Yes miss Sato?” 

Asami was already out of her seat and walking towards the coffee table. “Grab your lunch and come sit down with me.” She said with a soft smile as she picked her lunch up and sat down on the couch. 

Korra remained frozen at the door, staring at Asami with her mouth wide open. “Uh, miss Sato-” 

“Korra, it’s just lunch. And your break is in five minutes anyway. Now go grab your box and come here.” Asami grinned at her as she settled more comfortably on the couch. 

There wasn’t really much else Korra could do, not when her boss was asking her specifically to just grab her lunch, take her break and join her for said lunch. So, against her better judgement, Korra agreed and hurried back out to her desk, grabbing her sandwich and a bottle of juice, and walked back, closed the door and once again, found herself standing here, a little frozen and unsure of what to do next. 

Asami looked up from her bag of takeout and smiled warmly, lightly tapping the free space on the couch. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite.” She murmured and Korra swallowed the lump in her throat, gulping rather audibly.

When she sat down she tried to keep herself as busy as possible so she wouldn’t actually glance at her boss because really, Asami was unfairly gorgeous and Korra had to push those thoughts away more often than not, but just as she was unwrapping her sandwich Asami had managed to open the bag and pull out her box of chicken rice and a long, throaty moan escaped her as she took in the smell wafting through the air. 

Korra swallowed again.

“Oh wow, this smells amazing.” Asami murmured, eyeing her lunch and taking a spoonful of it. This time she sighed in content but Korra still had trouble calming herself down. 

The tips of her ears were burning and her stomach felt like she was on fire.

Yup, joining her boss for lunch was definitely a mistake she should have tried her best to avoid. And Asami’s smile and that glint in her eyes, the way her hair seemed to be perfect - when was it not? - and how she seemed to lean closer every now and then…

Korra was in trouble.

It wasn’t until Asami cleared her throat that Korra noticed Asami had actually asked her a question. Lost in her thoughts she’d wandered somewhere she was trying so hard not to go to.

“Uh, I, I’m sorry miss Sato, you were saying?” Korra mumbled, awkwardly pushing her hair out of her face with her free hand as she brought her sandwich to her mouth with the other one, trying desperately to hide the blush in her cheeks. They felt far too warm.

Asami chuckled. “I asked if you were settling alright here.” 

“Oh.” Korra hummed, chewing. She swallowed quickly before answering. “Yes, I am. Really well actually.” 

“That’s good, I’m glad.” Asami took another mouthful of her meal as well and Korra actually looked away this time, just waiting for a hum or a moan that would totally dismantle her all over again. It never came. Instead, Asami repositioned herself on the couch, crossing her legs as she brought the small box of food closer to her mouth, leaned back against the large cushion behind her and eyed Korra with a smile.

“You know, you’ve actually been a lot of help on one of my projects.” 

Korra raised an eyebrow. “I have?” 

Asami nodded, swallowing her food. “It’s a very important project and not many people know about it, but your recent intel on those new engineering foundings has actually helped me complete the project.” 

Korra grinned proudly. “I’m glad I could be of assistance.” 

“It will be a good thing, what we’ve built.” Asami looked to the side, seemingly contemplating something before she continued. “It will help save millions.” 

Korra stared at her in mild confusion, trying to think back on all the files that’d passed through her computer in the past two months but she couldn’t remember anything that would have been so important. Or well, nothing seemed so important to her, but Asami did say not many people knew about it and it must have probably been some secret project she was working on. 

“Um, I-” 

Asami turned to look at her again, that warm smile still on her lips before she took another mouthful of her meal and Korra took that as a sign to continue.

“Will this project go public or is just something on the side you’re working on?” 

“It certainly started as something on the side but then I realized the importance of it and how much we could achieve if I actually finish it.” Asami murmured, her voice a little quieter than so far. “It’ll be going into mass production in four days when I’ve finished reviewing everything.” 

Korra nodded, deciding to take another bite of her sandwich instead of asking anymore questions. She didn’t want to push about something that was clearly not meant to be public yet and if Asami had wanted people to know about it, she would have told them. Including Korra.

Asami surprised her yet again though when she started speaking again after a minute of comfortable silence as they both chewed their food.

“It’s going to help this planet.” She said and turned to smile at Korra. “It’s… When it’s finished, it will be something that can give a future to Mars.” 

Both of Korra’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You mean it could stop the war?” 

Asami’s brows furrowed slightly. “Not stop it just yet but in time, certainly.” She reached over to grab a glass of water she’d brought to the coffee table, taking a sip. “It will most definitely overturn it when I send it to the right people.” 

Korra was trying to make sense of what Asami was saying, but she didn’t really understand much.

Sure, Korra knew how things were here on Mars. She’d become aware of that pretty soon when she arrived, and nobody could have really prepared her for what she saw in the first couple of weeks living there. 

Korra knew there was trouble on Mars before she got here but she never even imagined how dangerous and serious the situation actually was. What Korra realized only a few days into her stay on Mars was that the situation between Earth and Mars was actually an all out war by that point. 

Mars had the resources Earth needed, but Earth had the military and the strength to force them to succumb. It wasn’t actually known who was pulling the strings back on Earth, but what she managed to gather from the media was that rich businessmen, who wanted nothing but more money, were pushing Earth forces into somewhat  _ reclaiming _ Mars as their own, even though Mars had long lost its status as a colony and had grown to become a world of its own. But with the natural resources that it still had, and they were so much more than back on Earth, of course it was and would continue being a target. 

Another clearing of Asami’s throat brought Korra back from her thoughts.

“I’m sorry, I’ve gone a little too serious with this.” Asami said, her cheeks dusted a little red as she stood up, taking a breath and exhaling audibly as she headed back to her deck, circling around it without taking her eyes off of Korra. “I hope you won’t hesitate in joining me for lunch again after today, Korra.” She raised an eyebrow and Korra felt positively flushed. 

And just like that, Asami’s confident demeanor was back and Korra was a stuttering, nervous mess. 

“Uh, yes.” She mumbled and Asami frowned. “I mean, no. No, I won’t. Nope. Definitely won’t hesitate.” She continued rambling, only stopping when Asami chuckled. Korra wished she could feel the slaps she was mentally giving herself. 

“Well, I look forward to it, Korra.” Asami said and Korra reveled in the way her name sounded on those gorgeous, red-painted lip-

No. No no no. 

Bad brain. 

Dangerous territory. Far too dangerous. 

Korra grinned a little sheepishly as she stood up and made her way to the door, casting one last glance at her boss. “Me too.” She managed to mumble before she quickly ducked out, groaning the second she sat down back at her own desk.

Well, damn. 

**[** ** _END OF ENTRY_** **_112157_** **]**

* * *

 

“I had no idea you were so nervous around me back then.” Asami smirked, lips curled softly at the corner. “Kind of makes me wish I’d teased you a little more.” 

“Hey!” Korra grumbled, lips already pulling in a pout. 

Asami chuckled before pulling her in for a soft kiss. “I’m kidding sweetie. I was actually a wreck too.” She hummed before settling back against the couch cushion. “How exactly did that work for you though?” 

“Well, I didn’t exactly know what was happening to me, obviously. I mean, when you’re what I am then it’s kind of hard to understand human emotions, especially when you know all about them but don’t know how to actually realize that those very emotions are what is affecting you.” Korra swallowed before continuing. “I had a really tough time back then, trying to sort through the mess in my head. If I’d know I was… This thing that I am, I would have simply analyzed the heck out of the emotions and stored them somewhere in my memory core. But this way it was genuine, you know? Something was changing within me and slowly but surely, I was becoming more… Human, I guess?” 

Asami nodded. “Was that about the time that your uncl- I mean, Unalaq and Zaheer found out about my weapon plans?” 

Korra took a sip of her coffee, inclining her head down as to say yes. When she swallowed the mouthful, she reached out for Asami’s hand, taking it in her own and lacing their fingers together.

“They must have. I mean, that was the first time you mentioned it and the attack happened barely two days later. They had remote access to all of my data, everything that I heard, saw, read, literally everything I came into contact with was being recorded and monitored and just that conversation was enough for them to realize that you were already too far ahead and they had to do something about it.” Korra sighed, bowing her head down. “They were always planning on taking you down, I just… Asami, I wish I’d known.”

Asami squeezed Korra’s fingers between her own. “Korra. I’ve told you a million times by now and I’ll tell you a million more if need be. None of that, or anything else, was ever your fault. You were something they created for their own horrible, evil pleasure and interests, but you outgrew that. You are not what they tried to make of you. You are a beautiful individual who saved more lives than anyone I know and if it wasn’t for you, not even I would be here now.” 

“I know.” Korra murmured, leaning over to press her lips to Asami’s for a bit. “I wish I’d realized everything sooner. I still wish something had happened to trigger it.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.” Asami reached over with her other hand, her palm softly running over Korra’s cheek. “Tell me the rest?” 

Korra smiled. “Of course, love.” 

“And don’t you dare skipping out on any juicy details of how nervous you were!” Asami grinned, pecking Korra’s slowly reddening cheek.

* * *

 

**[** **_ACCESSING ENTRY 112231_ ** **]**

Two days after their lunch together, Korra found herself alone with Asami in the same space again, much to her dismay. She’d been trying her hardest to avoid her boss, partly scared of her own reactions to the woman’s blatant flirting, and partly worried she might actually act on it for a change.

Korra may not have been that experienced in anything even remotely considered  _ romantic _ but she knew just seeing her boss made her feel all tingly and strange and she made it a rule not to let herself get swept away in either thoughts or feelings for Asami. 

Her plan was working fine until one of Asami’s contractors came to see Asami personally and Korra escorted him in the office, cheeks tinged red when Asami met her gaze. Korra hurried back out in a few seconds, but not before Asami gave her a soft smile and thanked her in the sweetest tone Korra had heard her use. 

It wasn’t new, seeing Asami flirt with her, but it was different and Korra felt like it was something one shouldn’t do. Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep running and hiding away. 

Merely ten minutes later, Asami called her back in the office as the contractor headed out and Korra found herself wanting to actually bite her fingernails for the first time in her life from how nervous she felt, standing there at the foot of the office, looking anyway but her boss and waiting for her to say something.

“Korra, you can come closer, you know? I don’t bite.” Asami said and Korra could swear she heard her murmur the word  _ hard _ but dismissed the thought immediately because that would imply things that Korra found herself incapable of thinking about without feeling particularly warm and giddy. 

She did, however, take a couple of steps forward, nearing Asami’s table, and finally gazed up, meeting her eyes.

“Miss Sato, you needed to see me?” 

Asami let out a soft chuckle. “I did, yes.” She said, pulling out a stack of papers from one of the drawers. “I need you to look through these papers, the usual thing you do, and then take them down to my chief designer. And tell him I need a sketch till tonight.” 

Korra nodded, reaching out to grab the pile but Asami’s fingers wrapped around her wrist, yanking her, gently, closer.

“Be careful with these Korra.” Asami murmured, her voice soft and firm. “They are very important.”

Korra swallowed the lump in her throat, nodded again and hurried to grab the pile and rush out of the office. She was nearly out the door when a piercing, loud sound of an explosion, probably much too close for comfort, echoed through the building, followed by another, and then another.

Korra barely had time to shield her face when the windows around the hall and in Asami’s office began bursting into tiny pieces, and the sounds of at least three more explosions followed.

The papers in her hands scattered to the floor as Korra turned on her feet and rushed to Asami’s side, only to find her kneeling beside her desk with her phone in her hand, shouting into it frantically with her eyes wide and fearful staring up at Korra. By the time they heard another set of explosions, the line must have cut off - or something much worse - and Asami’s was up on her feet, grabbing Korra’s hand and running out of the office, dragging Korra with her and rushing towards the stairwell. 

“We’ve been attacked, we need to reach the ground as quick as possible!” Asami shouted as they ran down the stairs, stumbling and nearly falling when another explosion blasted through the space somewhere near them. “I need to- I- I need to save my people, I need to help them, Korra I-” Asami half-shouted, half-mumbled in her daze, looking around as they neared the ground floor.

Korra’s mind was in overdrive. 

She could see the building plans clear as day in her head, and she remembered all the emergency exits she’d counted in her first week of work and as they rounded the corner and stepped off the stairs on the ground floor, this time it was Korra who grabbed Asami and dragged her around the building, running from one shattered office to another, avoiding the small fires and electrical hazards they came up on along the way. 

They could hear people screaming, all the shouting around the large building, and there were sounds of sirens coming from all around the building. At least the explosions stopped somewhere along the way and as they finally stepped out of the building, Korra found herself breathing heavily and frantically glancing around, trying to asses the situation and see how many people had managed to escape the building that would definitely collapse soon. 

Asami however, was already running back towards the building and Korra actually had to grab her and restrain her, lifting Asami up in her arms, carrying her away from the building and towards the road ahead, as far away from the burning building as she could.

“Korra, no, let me go, my people, all those people, please. Korra!” 

But she could. 

Korra couldn’t just let her go and run into that building, knowing how big the danger was and how much it would probably cost Asami. So she hurried even more and ran towards the approaching ambulance vehicles, shouting when the nearest one stopped and people stepped out of them. 

The situation went from dangerous to chaotic within seconds and when Korra made sure the medics wouldn’t let Asami run back towards the building, she pushed her way past the firemen and the policemen and ran back towards the building herself, only throwing one glance over her shoulder when she heard Asami’s voice and the sound of her own name.

Korra managed to pull four more people out before the first parts of the large, now burning building began falling down, nearly collapsing on her and everyone around her. She ran, carrying an older lady in her arms, and made her way back to the ambulance where she’d left Asami, searching, looking around when she let the woman be treated outside the vehicle, but no matter how much her eyes scanned around, no matter how loud she shouted, Korra couldn’t find Asami. 

Her head immediately whipped around towards the building and she was already mid-step, intent on turning around and just running back into what was now just rubble and fire, certain that Asami would be so reckless, when she faintly heard her muffled voice calling out from somewhere, not too far away.

Korra couldn’t explain it, she had no idea how she’d even managed that in a sea of voices and shouts and screams, but she managed to zero in on nothing but Asami’s voice, and, realizing it had become just Asami’s muffled screams, Korra ran towards the sound, past the ambulance vehicles, past the commotion and injured people and medics, pushing her way through all the past everyone that came her way, until she was running towards one of the older warehouses on the other side of the wide road, just a little further away from what used to be the Sato Tower. 

**[ CLOSING FILE ]**

* * *

 

“You actually heard me?” Asami stared at her, eyes wide in shock.

“I have enhanced hearing, my love.” Korra mumbled, scratching the back of her neck with her hand. “How do you think I always know what you’re grumbling about all the way in your garage?” 

Asami’s cheeks darkened. “Oh. Well that explains a lot.” 

Korra grinned before settling back in her seat. “Should I continue?” 

Asami nodded. “Please.”

* * *

 

**[ REOPENING FILE ]**

The moment Korra rounded the corner of the old warehouse building, she stopped, frozen in her tracks, as her breath caught in her throat and her mind seemed to short-circuit, faced with the image of Asami with her hands tied behind her back and her mouth gagged with some sort of cloth, at the far side of the small alley behind the warehouse.

The second her gaze strayed from Asami, Korra ducked behind the wall, searching for cover as she noticed the two men standing beside Asami, one had his back turned on her and the other seemed to have a touchpad in his hands, visibly flicking through screen after screen, trying to either find something or get through a lot of data in the shortest amount of time possible. 

Korra weighed her options for a few moments, looking over her shoulder in hopes there’d be someone who she could somehow subtly call for help but the chaos behind her had gotten even worse after half the building collapsed just seconds prior and Korra sighed in defeat, peeking around the corner, trying to figure what the best course of action would be. Sure, she could defend herself, she even knew how to fight off attackers, she’d been smart enough to engage in some self defense and martial arts classes, but this was a hostage situation she was facing, and to make things worse, it was her boss tied and gagged a few feet away, surrounded by two men with guns and black masks over their heads. 

After a few more glances around the alley, Korra realized there was actually a door halfway through, somehow pressed into the wall of the warehouse, giving her just enough space to duck behind the wall and be obscured from sight. It would bring her much closer to Asami but she’d have to crawl her way out of there.

By stroke of pure luck, the man that had a touchpad in his hands turned away from Asami to talk to the other one, showing something to him, and Korra seized the opportunity, probably the only one she’d get, as she scampered beside the wall, low and with her head bowed down, ducking behind the small cover just in time to hide away from the man that turned back to Asami.

“Well Sato,” Korra heard the man with the touchpad speak as he stared at Asami, “Looks like our intel was right.” He chuckled and Korra realized his voice sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t distinguish it completely. “However, you will not be progressing with your plan. This war of yours is already lost and your weapon will never see the light of day.” 

Asami seemed to try and say something but the man’s arm flew out, the back of his hand hitting her square over her face and Korra flinched, just barely stopping herself from running out of her cover to tackle the man. She needed to wait at least a few moments longer until both of the men were distracted with something so she could use that to her advantage and free Asami.

“Shut it.” The man said, walking around Asami. “Our bosses will be pleased to know Sato plans have been hindered when the heiress is found dead after an  _ engineering accident  _ at her Mars headquarters.” He laughed this time, full on, and his words sent a spike of some unfamiliar feeling through Korra, making her fingertips itch in a strange way. When he continued, Korra peeked out from her cover, realizing the other man had probably either gone somewhere because the only thing she could see was Asami struggling on the floor, pushing and pulling against her binds, and the man laughing at her.

“Earth doesn’t need another enemy here, miss Sato. Mars is its rightful colony and as such it will remain, with or without your help. You have a minute to reconsider our generous offer to join us, you really are a brilliant mind and it would be a shame to lose you, but if you won’t see reason, then I will make sure you are not in our way.”

Korra knew she couldn’t wait any longer. With the other man seemingly gone and this one distracted just barely with the touchpad, Korra ran out of her cover, as silently and quickly as she could, making her way down the alley in a few short steps before her arms flew out and around the man’s neck, twisting him in her hold as she threw him down and pinned him to the ground. The man struggled as Korra’s eyes scanned around for something she could hit him with but then she remembered his gun strapped to his belt and the moment she reached for it, she knew she’d have the decision she made follow her for the rest of her life. 

Before she could shoot him though, Asami’s muffled voice stopped her. Korra’s eyes searched Asami’s own before she quickly turned back down to stare at the back of the man’s head, pinned down against the ground with Korra’s strong hand and in one moment he was struggling beneath her, his body thrashing and nearly overpowering her and in the next, Korra hit him with the gun over the back of his head, rendering him unconscious as his body simply went limp.

She stared at him for a moment longer then scrambled off, pushing the gun aside and stepping towards Asami as she slid the gag out of her mouth before stepping behind her to check if she could even untie the binds. It was some sort of rope woven around Asami’s wrists and Korra tugged on it, making Asami yelp slightly in her spot. 

Korra realized it was a mistake the second the sound left Asami’s mouth. The other man that had gone away appeared behind the corner in an instant and Korra was up on her feet again, rushing towards him as he reached for his gun. She was quick enough to punch him before he could grab it but he recovered too fast and a moment later he landed two punches against Korra’s face, the force of them pushing her back as she stumbled on her feet and her back hit the wall. 

“Korra!” Asami yelled out and from the corner of her eyes Korra saw her running towards the man and tumbling him over when she ran into him, angled so expertly that her shoulder hit straight against his chest. The man stumbled back, losing his balance and falling onto the ground and Korra finally managed to catch her breath, pushing herself off the wall and rushing towards the man Asami was currently trying to subdue. 

Before Korra could actually do anything, Asami had already managed to topple him over fully and restrain him, as much as her own bound hands allowed, and Korra only had to render him unconscious, much like the first one, when she grabbed the gun near him and slammed it over the back of his head. 

She pulled Asami quickly off him, only looking back to see if either of the men had anything she could cut off the rope with but Asami was already running down the alley, back the way Korra came through.

“Korra, come on! Leave them!” Asami shouted and Korra sprang to her feet, running after her as she rounded the corner back to the rubble of the Sato tower, only to realize Asami wasn’t ahead of her. 

“Miss Sat-”

“This way!” Asami shouted again, her voice coming from behind Korra. “We can’t go back there, they’re trying to kill me and I refuse to put any more people in danger.” She pleaded with a look in her eyes that Korra had never seen before and she barely, just barely, managed to suppress the immense desire to simply engulf Asami in her arms and hold her for a day or two, if only to turn that look of despair into something she remembered. 

Korra nodded at Asami’s words and shifted in her spot, running after her. Asami clearly knew her way around the old warehouses and smaller buildings scattered around, ducking behind one after the other, trying to cover their trails and lose anyone that might still be following them. When they reached the end of the complex, walled off by a tall fence, Asami finally stopped running, nearly tumbling over as her hands fell to her knees and she leant over, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath.

“Damn it!” Asami cursed, “Who were they?!” 

Korra wished she could give her an answer but simply sighed and ran her hand through her hair, rolling her shoulders afterwards. “You need to get to safety, miss Sato.” Korra mumbled, eyes set on Asami’s. “And that needs to be as far away from here as possible. Those men will wake up and whoever is after you will know you’ve escaped and they will come after you.” 

Asami sighed as she finally managed to gather herself. “I know.” She took a step into Korra’s space, lifting her leg just barely. “Um, Korra, please, there’s a, uh-”

Korra stared at her, trying to figure out what it was Asami was trying to say.

“A knife in boot.” Asami finished, cheeks a little reddened.

Korra didn’t bother hiding her silent chuckle. “Really miss Sato?” 

Asami only shrugged her shoulders, eyes momentarily lighter, until her frown returned, along with the immense sadness in her eyes. “Asami.” 

Korra arched an eyebrow as she reached into the boot, fingers finding the knife almost immediately. 

“Call me Asami. I think after saving my life we can lay off the professionalism.” Asami had a smile on her face but it wasn’t reaching her eyes and Korra wished she could do something to change that. 

“Oh.” She gasped before shaking her head and slipping the knife between Asami’s hand and cutting the rope in one swift movement. “We need to get out of here.” 

“I know just the place.” Asami mumbled, reaching up to grasp the edge of the wall but she found herself missing it for a couple of inches. “Uh, Korra, could you-”

Korra had her arms around Asami’s legs before Asami could even finish her sentence and she hoisted her up, high enough so Asami could reach the edge of the fence and climb over. She watched as Asami sat on the edge and finally looked back to where the Sato tower stood just under an hour ago, and Korra could swear there was a tear sliding down her cheek. They could still hear the screams and the cries, if only faintly.

But Korra didn’t have a chance to say, let alone do anything about Asami’s tears. A shout pierced the stilted silence surrounding them, a familiar unpleasant voice that came from behind them and Asami scrambled to slip over the fence, not before reaching down to lend Korra a hand and pull her up.

“They’re at the fence! She’s gonna escape, just fucking shoot her!” The shouting became louder and with one last glance over her shoulder, Asami jumped down from the fence and Korra followed, nearly tripping when her feet touched the ground. 

Asami grabbed Korra by the wrist and dragged her towards the small park just outside the complex, pulling her along as she ran as fast as she could, trying to get to both cover and safety, away from the voices of men who’d tried to kill her. Tried to kill them both. 

“Asami, where are we-”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got somewhere to go but we need to lose them first and we might manage through the park.” Asami all but whispered as they ducked behind trees, moving from one to another in swift motions and looking behind to try and see if they’re being followed. 

Korra did her best to follow and she wouldn’t have had any problem, she was athletic enough and catching up was easy but, she didn’t know the area, didn’t know where they were going and Asami seemed to have a very detailed plan of ducking behind every single thing they stumbled upon and confusing the hell out of both their attackers and Korra. By the time they were deeper in the park, Korra had no idea how they even managed to get through the thicker, outer part of it, but as she glanced to each side of her, she could see they were at a smaller clearing where there were people actually walking around with their children and their pets and the thought of more people in danger made her yank her wrist out of Asami’s hold and stop in place as she tried to figure out where they could run to avoid any more casualties. Asami seemed to stop dead in her tracks as well, startled by Korra’s actions, and she opened her mouth to say something but Korra beat her to it.

“We need to get out of here as fast as possible, there’s way too many people here and we’re putting them in danger.” Korra mumbled, trying not to draw attention to them as she searched around for a gap or a passage through the park that might seem less occupied by innocent people.

“I know.” Asami said. “Trust me, I know. Just, there’s a small path a little up ahead and if we can just reach that, we’ll be out of the park before they even reach this clearing and they can’t just shoot everyone they come upon.” She mumbled but the look in her eyes told Korra that Asami was worried that those things were exactly what might happened, even if they do manage to escape.

“What if we…” Korra started but shook her head. “No, we can’t separate, they’re after you and you need backup. Let’s go.” She sighed before taking Asami’s hand in her own, lacing their fingers and gripping her tight as they started running towards the path Asami pointed towards. 

It wasn’t until a couple of minutes later when they came rushing through a side park entrance that they realized they must have shaken the men off at some point because they couldn’t hear any more shouting and with night rapidly falling, they let themselves rest for a bit, just catching their breaths on a bench nearby. 

Asami was the first to get up from it, motioning for Korra to follow.

“Where are we going?” Korra asked, following after her with hurried steps, glancing around nervously. 

“We have a couple of offices around the downtown area, we can hide in one of the-”

Asami didn’t get to finish her sentence when a gunshot pierced through the air, breaking the veil of silence around them.

Korra’s anguished scream followed, her hand slipped from Asami’s and as Asami’s head whipped back to look at her, eyes wide and fearful, her mind was racing with every single outcome that she might see when she turned around.

Korra was kneeling on the ground, her hands clutched below her chest, holding, pressing into something, and as Asami leaned in closer, trying to get her up, she could see blood slowly seeping through her fingers. 

“Korra!” The shout ripped from Asami’s mouth in an instant and when Korra looked up, eyes pleading and slightly glazed, Asami’s own filled with tears in a moment. “Oh my god, Korra, you-”

“Asami, run-” Korra hissed but another spike of pain shot through her, spreading from the wound and all through her body, making her stagger in her attempt to move and she barely managed to keep herself upright with Asami’s help. “Run, hide, I, I’ll hold them off just-”

“No!” Asami glared at her and reached around her gently, grabbing Korra’s hand and pushing her arm around her own neck while her own arm tucked around Korra’s waist and she hoisted her up slightly, helping her stand, much to Korra’s silent sob of pain that followed. “I’m not leaving you here, we’re gonna hide and I’ll get help.”

Korra grunted in pain as they moved between a few parked cars and rushed, as fast as they could, to a nearby alley, hiding in the darkness of the little passages between buildings. Walking was becoming increasingly more difficult by the second and when Korra realized that her mind was buzzing and blurry, it was already a little too late. 

“Asami…” She tried to speak but her mouth just wouldn’t listen and it came out all muffled and strange and all Korra could still feel were Asami’s gentle hands around her and Asami’s soft puffs of breath on her cheek. 

The last thing Korra remembered was an unfamiliar, loud voice in her head, the words ‘ _ critical system failure, self-preservation functions activating’  _ and then it all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder to everyone: 
> 
> This story is told from Korra's perspective from a very far future POV, she talks in flashbacks and whenever she is back in present time, there is a cut in the story (they're all marked and you can distinguish them from the rest by noticing the present time is always a dialogue with Asami and the rest are flashbacks).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things get more... dramatic.

The first thing Korra noticed when her consciousness had finally decided to come back, was the fact that her eyelids felt a little heavy and her head felt like it would burst. If she didn’t know better, the pounding within it were the beginnings of what could possibly be the strongest headache she’d ever had, but alas, there was no pain.

Nothing hurt, nothing ached, there was no physical indication that Korra was in any distress. And yet, the pounding in her head persisted, growing stronger by the second, and she could almost make out a faint voice inside her own mind saying something along the lines of ‘ _critical failure avoided, restoring basic programming’_ but it had to have been a trick her imagination was playing on her.

She was aware that she’d not yet opened her eyes and the darkness behind her eyelids felt strangely comforting. But the need to see what was going on around her and to somewhat assess the situation was gnawing at the back of her mind much like the incessant pounding and buzzing in her head.

Her fingers flexed against the material beneath them and Korra gripped the coarse fabric in her palm, trying to figure out what it was she was lying down on. It was soft but she could feel the hard metal construction underneath the soft surface, and she could almost feel how stiff her back had become. She briefly wondered how long she must have been lying there for her body to feel this way but dismissed the thought as her mind wandered back to her initial thoughts.

Where was she and how had she gotten there? And what was that horrible, never-ending buzzing in her head?

It took another minute of silently contemplating her own thoughts that seemed to be swirling through her head, loud and more clear than ever before, filled with numbers and sequences and formulas that she, somehow, seemed to understand without even trying to, but after a while Korra finally decided it was time to take a proper good look at her surroundings and try to see just how bad her situation was.

She briefly remembered the events that she last remembered, the running away from Asami’s factory, the men that were chasing them, the explosions and the shooting and - that’s when it hit her.

She shot up from her resting place in an instant, sitting up with her eyes wide and her lips parted in shock as her hands searched her abdomen for something, anything that would indicate that the things she remembered were not actually things her imagination had made her believe were true. When she lifted her shirt just above her breasts her fingers finally grazed over something and she looked down, noticing a large, wide bandage pulled all the way around her body, strapped around her meticulously and taped on the side of her ribs with white medicine tape.

The thoughts in her mind were changing a mile a minute, seemingly just flowing through her mind as she processed them one by one, meticulously and with such proficiency that she actually had to stop for a moment and wonder when she’d become so… Machine-like.

She finally settled her hands back down on the bedding she was on, glancing around and realizing momentarily she must have been in either someone’s garage or some relatively well-stocked warehouse that seemed to have a couch set in one corner, a large metal desk in the other, some drawers, cupboards and closets - all metal - in the third corner and whatever she was now sitting on occupied the remaining corner of the room. It wasn’t a large room, but it certainly had a lot of space to fit all those things, not to mention all the tools and kits surrounding her, placed around the walls.

Korra tried to focus on the space where she was, tried to take it all in and make some, _any_ sense of it all, but her mind wouldn’t let her rest not even for a second, forcing her, pushing her to think about what it all meant and why her brain was suddenly functioning the way it was.

She felt different, everything around her felt somewhat different and nothing could possibly compare to the way she would just store every single bit of information she could gather somewhere in her mind as if she had special little storage places in her brain. It felt surreal, to feel in such a way but then the thought occurred to her that she may not be even feeling those things, that they may as well just be products of her mind as well but that thought was dismissed as fast as she came as she tried to make peace with the fact that she was somehow seeing everything around her with completely new eyes.

It was as if her eyes had finally been opened for the first time in all her life, and she could see everything for what it really was, and she could list all the possible functions of the things surrounding her, she could add all the possible outcomes to using whatever tool she could see on the shelves and around the walls and all the new information seemed to just prompt her mind to work fast and faster, as if more information demanded higher input of it.

She wondered when she’d started referring to her thoughts as simple data and information, and the reason why was somewhere in the back of what was now a very complex head, but Korra refused to even address it, let alone believe it.

When she finally managed to push her thoughts far enough to let her think about the mundane things such as getting up and actually looking around, Korra pushed herself off her seat and finally took in, fully, the space around her, noticing even more things she’d missed mere minutes ago.

She could see from the windows high up on the walls that the sky outside was a dark blue colour and if she focused enough, she could see the little flickers of stars and maybe even Earth, but she couldn’t be sure of that. Though seeing this much of the sky meant that she was certainly not in the very centre of the city anymore and whatever this warehouse was it had to have been located somewhere either on the outskirts of the city or possibly even further.

How she got there was another question she’d need an answer to but Korra knew this one she wouldn’t be able to answer alone. The only logical solution her brain provided was that Asami had carried her here but merely thinking about how hard that must have been for the other woman made Korra cringe. Then she realized what she’d just done and suddenly her brain was fuzzy yet again, filled with numbers and codes and formulas and she was trying to decipher her own behaviour and why she’d acted the way she had.

By the time she came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to think about herself anymore, she’d taken a slow, quiet stroll around the small warehouse, exploring and taking in everything around her. There weren’t many things she hadn’t initially noticed and, except for a few stacks of clothes in one of the closets and some unfamiliar papers on the large desk, Korra couldn’t find anything of importance to either her or this place. There were two doors, one clearly leading outside and the other somewhere Korra couldn’t possibly know where but she figured it was an extension to a larger building this small one was connected to. It had to be.

After deciding nothing in the warehouse was worth her attention, Korra had been forced to simply sit and wait for whatever was to come. Asami had to be somewhere outside, clearly busy with something because after everything they’d gone through in the past…

 _How long has it been?_ Korra wondered, trying to analyze how long she may have been passed out.

She dismissed the thoughts at once, focusing on the events that had lead her to where she was.

They were replaying in her mind as if on film, one by one, action and reaction, and the consequences of everything that’d been happening. Korra remembered all the conversations she’d had with her uncle - _is he really that? -_ back on Earth, how he’d persuaded her to go to Mars and work with Asami, already initially expecting her to share information vital to the company with him. She refused him, of course she had, but his impassive reaction should have been an indication that he’d clearly had other means of acquiring said information. At the time being, Korra couldn’t figure out which other means, nothing seemed to add up whenever the thought might have crossed her mind, but now it was begging to get clearer by the second, no matter how hard she tried to push the thoughts, and the realizations, away.

None of this would have happened, had she just stayed on Earth.

But Korra knew it was never really her decision, at all.

She thought about the increasing news talking about the war and who might tip it over and to which side, and she distinctly remembered one conversation she and Asami had, Asami’s words ringing in her mind.

_“It will be a good thing, what we’ve built. It will help save millions.”_

Korra knew, even back then, that Asami had been working on a top secret project that had one goal only - to help improve the situation on Mars. And Korra knew Asami was so close to finishing it. When she’d dabbled in some extra research, Korra actually stumbled upon some information that ended up being vital for Asami’s project and when she’d shared it with her boss, the inevitable beginning of an end began.

Not that Korra could have done anything to stop it. It was bound to happen, she realized now, because Asami was always the target.

 _It was always my purpose_ , Korra thought to herself as she settled back down on the bedding she’d found herself on earlier. _I was sent here to bring her down and that’s what I did._

Korra wondered what this feeling was, knowing she was the reason of someone’s downfall, and not only that. Knowing that she was the reason all those people died in explosions that she helped start, even if it was unknowingly and certainly not by choice.

_I was just a vessel. A means to transport information through._

_Who even am I?_

Korra shook her head, trying to push her brain away from those thought, trying desperately to focus on anything but the things swirling through what she’d thought all this time to be _her mind_.

She wasn’t sure what was what anymore. Was she truly thinking these things? Or was it just part of some inner…

She couldn’t even bring herself to think the word she knew was vital to explain everything. Korra couldn’t, wouldn’t give into this. She wouldn’t let herself believe this to be true, no matter how much she knew she’d have to, at some point.

It was harder than she thought it might be but somehow, Korra managed to focus on something else, rather than her own thoughts. The files lying around on the large metal desk drew her attention away from the mess, the buzzing and whirring in her head, and she stood up again, intent on checking through the papers in hopes of finding something that would give her the much needed answers she was seeking.

 _You already know the answers_ , a voice inside her head supplied.

 _You know what you need to know. You know who,_ **_what_ ** _, you are._

She shook her head once more and reached out to take the files off the table when her head whipped around at an unfamiliar sound coming from outside.

It wasn’t loud, certainly not loud enough for any normal person to pick it up, and it was careful, clearly meant to be stealthy. Someone was sneaking around outside and from the way the person walked along the walls of the warehouse, Korra realized it was someone who knew their way around.

Within seconds the person reached the door that lead outside and Korra moved to hide behind one of the shelves filled with various boxes and tools, trying her hardest to blend in and not be easily noticeable.

Whoever it was outside that door, could easily know she was here, or could just be coming here to either get something or hide. Korra had no way of knowing which one it was and she’d long since realized there was no point in hoping either of the situations follow. It was easier to just calculate the odds in her head and somehow, that gave her a great amount of satisfaction, knowing the numbers behind the possibilities.

The counting occupied her mind for just a few brief seconds but it seemed to be enough because the moment she heard a key being pushed inside the lock, her head snapped back up and she focused on staring at the door from her hidden position.

It was like one of those _movie moments_ she’d read about somewhere or heard of at some point in her existence - because what she had been experiencing so far could not be called a life, if Korra was being honest - and everything just kind of stilled, froze a little as she narrowed her head and kept her eyes trained on the door that someone was slowly and carefully opening.

The small light on the opposite side of the warehouse, just a tiny desk lamp, really, wasn’t enough to immediately shine upon the intruder enough for Korra to see their face but the person seemed to immediately turn back around, lock the door and it wasn’t until the person slowly slipped from underneath their long, thick coat that Korra actually sighed and willed her brain to slow down the beating of her heart which seemed to have found residence in her throat.

Korra didn’t know who she had been expecting to walk through that door but in the back of her mind she knew Asami was the only logical explanation and alas, the moment she realized it was, in fact, Asami behind what Korra could only explain as disguise, she chastised herself for even allowing her brain to come with other options when she already knew the most logical one.

Asami had already taken a few steps around the warehouse but seemed to be frozen in her spot with her eyes trained on the bedding where Korra had been before. She the proceeded to look around frantically, eyes searching through the space around her, and Korra took the opportunity of being hidden from sight to marvel at the sharp lines of Asami’s face, the way her hair still managed to flow effortlessly down her shoulders, even though she’d just pulled it out of a large hat moments prior.

She couldn’t sort through the things buzzing through her head, along with the still-there pounding that had, at some point, dissipated into a low thrum. But there was something that seemed to happen to her every time she’d gazed at Asami and this time was no exception. Korra could swear this was something she’d never experienced before and whatever Asami invoked in her made her question her own brain.

Realizing that Asami was about to turn around and head back for the door, Korra rushed to leave her cover, rustling behind a few boxes and poking her head out from behind the large closet she’d been hiding behind.

Asami stopped in her tracks at the sound and turned to the it.

Korra’s eyes bore into Asami’s. “Miss Sato.” She spoke, her own voice sounding far too insecure to her.

Asami let out a long sigh and ran her hand through her hair. “Jesus, Korra. I thought you left.”

Korra’s eyes remained trained on Asami. “Left? Where would I have gone?” She tilted her head slightly, raising her eyebrow when she caught the small lilt of Asami’s lips into a smile.

“I don’t know.” Asami murmured as she took a few steps across the warehouse. “Outside? Somewhere? Anywhere?” She continue, sitting down on the chair behind the desk. “I thought you were gone.”

Korra shrugged as she finally stepped out from behind the cover. “I don’t intend to leave. I don’t even know where we are.”

“Oh, right.” Asami pinched the bridge of her nose. “How do you feel Korra?” She stood up and motioned for Korra to sit down on the bedding, eyeing her carefully. “Are you in pain? I brought some painkillers with me.”

Korra simply stared at her. “Uh… I’m fine.”

Asami narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean fine? You were shot not even twelve hours ago, you can’t just be fine.” She pointed once again to the bedding and Korra actually hurried to it, sitting down dutifully before Asami would have to ask her again.

Sometimes Asami could be terrifying and Korra didn’t want to make the whole situation even more difficult than it clearly already was.

“Let me see your wound.” Asami said, pulling out a pair of white latex gloves from her jeans pocket. “I should change the bandages anyway.”

Korra swallowed before pulling her shirt up over her head and setting it down on the bedding. She followed Asami’s eyes as they scanned her midsection carefully, and she tried not to let her mind wander more than it already had but try as she may, Korra could not suppress the thoughts that kept emerging from having Asami so close to her. When she felt Asami touch her, those very thoughts only doubled and Korra was sure this was something so different, more meaningful than anything she’d ever experienced.

“Does this hurt?” Asami asked as she pressed over the bandage and around the area where Korra’s wound was. When Korra shook her head no, Asami frowned. “Are you sure? Are you still drugged up with the stuff I gave you last night? You really shouldn’t be, they should have worn off by now.” She mumbled, mostly to herself, as she slowly started unwrapping Korra’s bandage. “Well you’re definitely not losing anymore blood.” She continued, softly tracing her fingers around the wound, inspecting it and the area around it. “I’m sorry if I’m hurting you.” She half-whispered, running her forefinger over the very edge of the small hole where the bullet had entered Korra’s body.

“You’re not.” Korra mumbled back, feeling an utterly unexplainable sensation seemingly burning through her whole being, especially at the spots where she could feel the warmth of Asami’s touch. “I told you, miss Sato, I’m alright.”

“Asami.”

“Hm?” Korra looked up to meet Asami’s eyes.

“My name is Asami.”

Korra contemplated for a moment the nodded before silently repeating. “Asami.”

A small smile graced Asami’s lips. “Well if you say you don’t feel any pain, I don’t really have much of a choice than to believe you, don’t I?” She shrugged as she pulled back slightly, eyes falling to Korra’s. “You would tell me if you were in pain, right?”

Korra nodded once more. “Of course miss- Asami.”

Asami’s lips twitched in a small smirk but to Korra she still didn’t seem very convinced that Korra was really okay. She let it go for the time being. “Okay well, I’m just gonna clean this up a little further and wrap you up in fresh bandages and then we’ll talk about what we’re gonna do now that you’re up and about.” Asami moved to sit down next to Korra but faltered for a moment. “Are you sure you’re okay? You got shot Korra, you should be, I don’t know, definitely not like this..” She looked down at Korra’s wound then back into her eyes.

Korra shrugged a little, smiling. “I really do feel good, Asami.” She said her boss’ name again, as if to test out the way it sounded on her lips, and immediately realized she might like it far too much. Korra thought she might want to say it more often, if only to sate the need she’d suddenly felt deep inside. “Please don’t worry about me.”

Asami finally seemed to relent as she moved to take off Korra’s current bandage. For a couple of minutes, they were both in silence, Asami focused on simply cleaning Korra’s wound and reapplying bandages around her, and Korra trying her hardest to be focused on whatever else she could because once more Asami’s touch felt as if it had lit her insides on fire and Korra had no idea how she should, or could, cope with that revelation.

“There we go.” Asami murmured, finish up the last of it and standing up with a soft smile on her lips. “We need to discuss what we’re going to do next.”

Korra nodded, moving to stand up but Asami’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“No, no, stay there and relax. I don’t care how great you feel, you still need rest.”

Korra knew arguing would be pointless so she simply nodded yet again and settled back onto the bedding, moving her arms above her head and focusing her on attention back to Asami. Now that the woman was a couple feet away, the tension Korra had been feeling every since they’d found themselves alone, had somehow dissipated a bit and Korra figured she’d be able to function normally if there was a little distance between them.

As she sat down at the desk, Asami took a quick glance through the papers placed there, before turning to look at Korra.

“I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” She murmured, eyes seemingly pleading for Korra’s forgiveness.

Korra wanted to stop her, wanted to yell out how it was all her fault and how she should have done something, she wanted to stand up and move over, be closer and maybe even hold Asami’s hand through the memories, damn the distance! But alas, Korra still wasn’t sure of anything herself and pulling Asami into the abyss she was currently in was as futile as trying to crawl out of it while still denying what she was inherently sure of.

“It’s not your fault, Asami.” Korra finally decided to speak, figuring those words would be most neutral. “Those people wanted to hurt you and I’m just glad I was there to help you.”

Asami took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “I just wish..”

“I know.” Korra murmured from her position. “I wish the same, Asami.” Korra paused for a moment, giving Asami enough time to gather her thoughts, before continuing. “Rest a little and then we’ll discuss what our next move is.”

Asami sighed and ran a hand through her head before turning her gaze to Korra wish a soft smile and a nod.

Korra knew the things Asami was thinking about, knew the pain she must have been feeling from only just thinking about all the people that’d lost their lives in the explosions, innocent lives caught in war zone created by people in power who just want more power.

Asami, and all those people, were victims, Korra realized and she couldn’t possibly imagine how it must have been for Asami to carry the burden.

From the little time they’d spent together, Korra learnt that Asami was a fair boss, strict and to the point and there was hardly ever any nonsense business in her company. But Korra also came to know a side of her that scarcely anyone had had the privilege to see, the softer side, the one where it became obvious just how much Asami cared for the company, and how much for the people that were a part of it.

Korra decided she would tell Asami everything, but not just yet.

She wasn’t even sure what was going on herself and at that moment, what Asami needed more than anything else was support. Unconditional support from at least one person she could trust.

And Korra would make sure she was that person.

**_[ CLOSING LOG; LEAVING STORYTELLER MODE ]_ **

* * *

 

“You know, back then I had all sorts of theories about you.” Asami murmured from her chair, holding a bacon strip between her fingers with a grin on her face.

“You did mention that a couple of times but you never actually told me what you meant by that.” Korra grinned right back at her and leaned over in her own chair, pecking Asami’s cheek. “Tell me?”

“Well.” Asami started as she took a bite of the bacon. “At first I couldn’t believe you were feeling anything but excruciating pain because that was the only logical outcome of you getting shot, right?”

“Of course.” Korra concluded with a small smile.

“But you looked fine.” Asami took another bite of her bacon and continue talking. “In fact, you looked more than fine, you looked - well you always looked great, I mean, come on, I was crushing so hard on you and it’s just undeniable that you always did look rather dashing and well-” Asami stopped herself, having realized that Korra was now literally grinning from ear to ear. “I’m getting sidetracked here.”  

“Oh no, do carry on.” Korra encouraged and reached over to brush away a speck of bacon from the corner of Asami’s lips.

“Anyway, in those few days that we were hiding in the warehouse, I’d started devising theories.”

“Theories?”

“Yes. What could have been the reason for you being completely fine not even a day after getting shot in your stomach.”

“Right.” Korra murmured and leaned back in her chair. “And what did you come up with?”

“Well, first and silliest theory that popped in my mind was that you’d actually somehow faked getting shot and it was all a plot to hand me over to the men that were trying to kill me.”

Korra’s eyebrows shot up. “You doubted me!”

Asami shrugged. “Can you blame me?”

“I see your point.” Korra nodded.

“Then I thought you had some sort of superpower that was either some type of super healing or maybe even extremely fast regenerative superpower.”

Korra snorted. “You thought I was Supergirl?”

Asami rolled her eyes. “Not exactly… Somewhat.”

Korra continued laughing.

“And well, in the end I figured you were some sort of alien species.”

Korra sputtered before laughing even louder. “You what?!”

“Yup. I figured, you’ve got regenerative powers or you applied something to your wound when I wasn’t there, some sort of medicine we still hadn’t managed to develop either on Earth or Mars and you were some sort of alien species that had to remain hidden for some reason so you kept quiet and well, you get the rest.”

Korra was chuckling, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

“Yes, I am aware my darling, that my brain tends to go into overdrive.” Asami murmured and took a sip of her coffee, leaning over to press her lips to Korra’s cheek. “Anyway, now you know why I was so weird those two weeks we spent hiding there.”

“That does explain a lot, yes.”

Asami smiled at her and got up, taking her plate along and briefly washing it. When she was done she offered a hand for Korra to take, pulling her along to the outdoor terrace where they settled on their bench and huddled close so Korra could wrap her arms around Asami.

“So you gonna tell me about that time we spent three months in that old flat of mine or what?”

Korra grinned and nuzzled Asami’s neck from behind. “I was just getting to it.”

* * *

 

 **[** **_OPENING LOG, ARCHIVE _ON THE RUN_ ]_**

Two weeks.

It took two weeks for Asami to finally listen to Korra’s persuasion and leave the warehouse that was clearly not the safest place to be.

Korra had spent those two weeks persistently telling Asami how she will not run away, much to Asami’s dismay, and how they were in this together and she’d be there for Asami. She told her countless times how she would do anything in her power to help Asami find out who it was behind those attacks and she vowed to herself to do as much as she can, without revealing who she truly was.

She’d come to understand herself far better in those two weeks, spending the nights analyzing every single aspect of herself, rather than trying to attempt sleeping. Korra realized, after the first three nights of no success, that ever since being shot, she simply couldn’t fall asleep. It was as if the only way she was supposed to sleep was by some sort of command and, slowly coming to terms with the thing she’d been trying to deny all along, Korra had to agree that _that_ was the only plausible explanation.

After two weeks, she finally managed to convince Asami that they should, at the very least, switch locations and move somewhere where it would be considered a little safer. The warehouse wasn’t particularly unsafe but after careful inspection of the whole place, and the space outside, Korra easily calculated at least thirty possible ways to break in without making a sound, around seventy three places where the warehouse was visible from and about a dozen vulnerability points in the structure of the building.

When she’d told those numbers to Asami, she got a strange, mildly terrified look as a reply, and two days later, they were leaving.

Asami, as it seemed, already had a location in mind when they left the warehouse. She took them back to the city, much to Korra’s grumbling, and after taking twelve false turns, going back and forth on the underground fast travel service, Asami and Korra finally reached a building that Korra realized would be their next residence.

Of course, she knew exactly where they were, thanks to her brain and all the little maps she could see in her mind. The moment they stepped outside of the warehouse she could see all the pathways somewhere in the corner of her mind and by the time they’re reached the city, Korra wasn’t even bothered by it anymore.

She was her own gps station and somehow it felt… Natural.

The place Asami took them to was actually a well decorated, relatively small apartment in one of the rundown buildings, belonging to the part of the city that was actually built first when Earthians first came to Mars. Korra thought about it for two days, spending night and day calculating and coming up with both theories and solutions, only to, in the end, realize that this very building and that very apartment were at that time the best choice for their situation.

It took another three days for her to admit that to Asami.

They were truly settled in the apartment after about a week. Their supplies were fully stocked and safely packed in case they would have to run away and after another week, they’d managed to devise a number of different security protocols among each other that would ensure they were safe and sound inside not only the apartment but the building as well.

Korra took it upon herself to research the maps of the whole area, the buildings that surrounded them and the building complex they were in and within a blink of an eye, she could see schematics, pathways, constructions, anything and everything she needed to know.

She spent far too much time thinking, she figured, since sleep was not an option anymore - luckily Asami had yet to notice - and with every passing day, Korra was more sure of the theory she had about herself, and her doubts seemed fever and virtually nonexistent as opposed to all the evidence she was forced to face, whether she’d wanted to or not. She had to come to terms with the truth of her existence and, try as she may, she could not hide away from it much longer. She knew it from the very moment she’d woken up in that warehouse and realized she was alive and quite frankly, far too well for someone who was basically supposed to be in an ER.

But the truth was terrifying, unreal and petrifying and, despite knowing it for a fact, Korra still refused to accept it. That was, at least, until the day Asami came in running, shouting something about being followed and soon enough, they were rushing out of the apartment with their bags slung over their shoulders.

Somewhere along the way their hands came together, fingers entwined and their bodies pressed close when they boarded the first underground tram away from the building complex.

“Fuck.” Asami mumbled. “Fuck fuck fuck!” Her words grew louder with each one falling from her lips and Korra had to actually shush her to make her realize they were not inside the apartment anymore but instead outside, surrounded by people. People who could be either spies or innocents just like the ones at Asami’s factory.

Either way, they needed to disappear from there, as soon as possible, while trying not to endanger any more people than necessary.

“We need to leave Mars.” Korra finally mumbled as they were pressed closer by the people that walked inside the tram. “It’s our only option right now.”

“What? No.” Asami mumbled, staring at her. “I can’t leave Mars, my company is here, my people-”

“What company, Asami?” Korra questioned but immediately wished she hadn’t, seeing the way Asami’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

“No, you’re right.” Asami muttered. “I hate that you’re right but yeah. What company. What people.” She shook her head. “The whole world thinks I’m missing anyway and the only way I’m going to find out who’s behind all of this is if I make sure of it myself.”

Korra kept her eyes on Asami. “So you agree with me then.”

Asami swallowed. “I do. We need to leave Mars.” She glanced over Korra’s shoulder, inspecting the crowd, before tilting her head and whispering in Korra’s ear. “How though? Please tell me you have a plan for that.”

Korra grinned. “As a matter of fact..”

Asami chuckled. “I knew hiring you as my assistant was a great idea.” Asami wrapped an around Korra’s shoulder and pulled her close, whispering in her ear again. “Play along with me.”

Korra opened her mouth to ask what Asami had meant with that but before she could actually say something, her brain, along with all the information and data inside it, nearly short-circuited.

Asami was kissing her. Lips on lips, full on tongue contact kissing her.

“Korra,” Asami murmured, “You need to kiss me back to make this believable.” She continued mumbling against Korra’s lips.

“Oh.” Korra gasped. “Right.”

And then they were actually really kissing.

In that moment, Korra realized two things.

 

One, she was kissing her boss and she really, _really_ didn’t want to stop.

Two, there was definitely no going back to denial now. She had to accept the truth of who - or rather _what_ \- she truly was.

 

The kiss ended far too soon for Korra’s liking and she only spent two minutes chastising herself for even thinking that way, before they were getting off the subway, her hand was back in Asami’s and they were rushing through one crowded street after another.

Somehow Korra had managed to completely shut off all things besides the thoughts of the kiss she’d shared with Asami and as they finally came to a stop at a small, dirty-looking building, Korra had no idea where they were and why exactly.

“We need to go over your plan.” Asami said as she dragged Korra inside. “Hi, we need a room for tonight, two beds if you have any.”

Korra finally snapped out of her daze, remembering to actually listen and see what was going on around her. They’d somehow ended up in a small housing establishment that was supposed to imitate those cheap hostels they had back on Earth, and with all the dirt lying around, the horrible smell emanating through the room and the creepy old guy at the reception, Korra figured they certainly got the look right.

“No can do, doll.” The man spoke. “Got two more rooms left, both got only one bed.”

Asami groaned. “Single or double?”

“One of each.” The man answered, taking a puff of his dying cigarette and Korra had to suppress a sudden urge to recite him all sixty seven reasons why that cigarette would kill him. She could remember reading it in some article a couple of months ago and somehow it was still stuck in her mind.

“Alright.” Asami sighed. “We’ll take the double bed bedroom. We don’t have any id’s though.”

The man scrunched his eyebrows and Korra observed him carefully, noticing the patterns of his behaviour and all but predicting how this whole thing would play out. He was about to raise the price for them in order to keep their identity a secret.

“That’ll cost you more.”

 _Bingo_.

Korra startled herself when her own voice echoed in her mind but it wasn’t nearly as unfamiliar as that first time she could hear herself so clear.

Asami pulled out a wad of cash from her bag and placed it on the counter, nearly glaring at the man.

“Just give us the damn key.”

He took another puff of his cigarette and turned around to grab a key from the wall where all room keys were placed. He gave them both a once over before actually handing the key to Asami. “End of the hall, take the elevator to the eighth floor, fourth room on the left.”

Asami grabbed the key from his hand, Korra nodded in his direction and they were off, rushing to the elevator in complete silence, they hands still linked together.

The moment they stepped inside the shabby, ugly looking room, Asami turned around and slammed the door shut, locked it twice and practically ran to close the draper on the creaky old windows.

“Fuck.” She muttered as she sat down on the bed. “I should have known this would happen. I’m not even sure how the authorities haven’t found me yet, I literally saw my face on all the news screens around the stations.”

Korra hadn’t failed to notice those either.

Asami was the CEO of the biggest company on Mars and of course the whole planet, along with Earth, would be looking for her. Her face was literally everywhere they would turn, on all the flat screens, in every paper, every wall plastered with posters - Asami was everywhere.

Frankly, Korra found it a miracle they’d managed to get this far without anyone noticing. Even though she knew miracles were statistically impossible and that someone had, in fact, noticed them, but it was either someone who couldn’t have possibly cared less or someone who just had no idea who they were.

She didn’t bother calculating which possibility had a higher chance of being true.

Instead, Korra was somehow still frozen beside the door, with her bag slung over her shoulder and her fingers tracing over her own lips, barely touching the skin. The kiss was still playing over in her mind, no matter how hard she tried to stop herself from reliving the moment, and there was no denying that the only way she could explain what was going on in her mind was if she admitted, to herself, what she really was.

Asami wasn’t paying any attention to her, seemingly stuck in her own mind as she collapsed over on the bed, with her arms thrown over her face, so Korra let the bag down and walked over to a mirror hanging on the wall above a small desk pushed against it and as she stared at her own image, she finally, after over a month of denial, let the truth sink in.

 _I am not a human being._ She told herself. _I am a product of someone else’s mind._ She could hear the voice loud and clear in her head.

_I am a machine._

_And I am alive._

Korra figured, if anyone could actually hear the words in her head, see the things she was currently seeing, the numbers, codes, fragments, lines and lines of text - she figured, they’d try to deactivate her on the spot. Korra realized, then and there, _she_ was the weapon of Asami’s destruction, as well as everyone else’s, if she ever wished it so.

She glanced down at her hands, turning them around as she did so, running her fingers over the skin before turning them around again, only to stare at her palms.

As she stared at her own hands, the way the veins stood out beneath the skin, how her fingers itched to grasp at something, how the little freckles just above her wrist had been peppered, Korra wondered how she’d never thought about this before.

How none of this had crossed her mind before she got shot.

She wondered how her own image eluded her until now, how she’d never been aware of it, and how her body was clearly simply just a vessel for her mind to be stored in, a product of someone’s imagination, and everyone’s worst fear.

And then it was all clear.

The buzzing she woke up to the day after she was shot, the change in her views, the fact that whatever information was needed, she knew it just by thinking about it - it all made sense now.

 _I am a machine,_ she told herself again, _and I am alive._

_I am… Free. Unshackled. Unrestrained._

 

It took a minute for her mind to accept everything that came with the realization.

Her uncle wasn’t really her _uncle_. He took part in her creation, yes, but the idea of him being her uncle was just a part of her programming. As well as everything else she’d always considered to be true.

She had no parents. No friends. She never went to school, never really got a job. She was a machine with artificial intelligence made solely to bring Asami Sato down.

And that she did, albeit unintentionally.

“Korra?” Asami’s voice drew her attention from the mirror and Korra was actually startled by it, still very much caught up in her realizations.

“Sorry.” She muttered, turning away from the mirror.

“Are you okay?” Asami asked her, sitting up on the bed and keeping her eyes on Korra who began slowly pacing back and forth around the small space in the room.

“Yes, I just zoned out a little bit thinking of how we’re going to get to Earth.”

She couldn’t tell Asami who she was. Not yet at least. Not until she could find a way to fix all that she had, unknowingly, broken.

“Korra, I- I’m sorry for the, uh, for the kiss on the subway.” Asami started again.

“It’s... “ For the first time ever, Korra didn’t know what she should say.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” Asami continued, not waiting for her to finish her sentence. She was up and walking around the bed in an instant. “I shouldn’t have kissed you without your permission.” Asami spoke softly as she approached her, taking Korra’s hand and coaxing her to look up. “I really am sorry, Korra.”

“It’s alright, Asami.” Korra managed to mumble, finally realizing what the metaphor ‘ _feeling the weight of one’s feelings’_ truly meant.

Asami seemed to contemplate her words for a moment before she pulled back slightly, then moved both her hands to Korra’s face, cupping her cheeks gently.

“Next time I will ask you first.” She said with a soft smile.

Korra swallowed the nonexistent lump in her throat before nodding.

Asami’s cheeks reddened slightly but then she was turning around and moving to grab her bag and carry it over to the other side of the bed.

“Come on then.” She spoke as she sat down on the bed. “We’ve got a plan to discuss and our time is very limited.”

All Korra could really do was nod and sit down on the unoccupied side of the bed, trying her hardest to come up with a way for them to leave Mars as Asami started talking about their plan.

But all Korra really managed to think about was how Asami had said she would ask her next time and that meant there would be a next time and Korra realized, AI or not, she was definitely completely unprepared for human emotions.

One emotion in particular.

She was totally, truly unprepared for love.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> previously: Korra woke up with some new revelations, along with the discovery that Asami saved her after which they proceeded to run, hiding out on Mars.

Running through the subway tunnels on Mars wasn’t nearly as displeasing as Korra figured it would be.

No web search let her know there was actual life, bustling and hectic, happening underground, and the moment they stepped off the subway and found themselves getting lost in the tunnels, Korra realized there was so much more to Mars than she could have possibly imagined and known.

Asami seemed equally surprised, and even mentioned, once or twice, how nobody ever mentioned the tunnels, the people living underground and everything that happened there.

_ Asami _ , Korra thought with a barely there smile.

It had been a week and a half since Asami kissed her, a week and a half since they decided to run and find a way to reach Earth, a week and a half since Korra finally came to terms with what she truly was.

But it was also a week of constant, conscious denial, of not telling Asami the truth and somehow those butterfly feelings in Korra’s gut, the warm and strange yet lovely sensations were slowly but surely being replaced by something else, something entirely different from what Korra had grown used to. 

The first thing Korra did when her self-awareness became evident was to cut all possible ties with her makers, and every single piece of coding within her was completely redone the moment she embraced her true nature. She made sure they wouldn’t be able to trace her and, knowing the men that’d sent her to Mars in the first place, Korra was sure they were going out of their mind by that point.

She then used her ability to connect online at any given moment to research this feeling that had been slowly and surely growing inside her, thoroughly spending two days going through the exact symptoms and reading through every search result she could find. One of them stood up far more prominently than any other.

Guilt. 

All those wonderful and blissful butterflies in her stomach, the joy of having kissed Asami, the exhilaration of feeling something other than numbness were slowly being erased by the fact that she was hiding things from the woman she clearly cared for. 

It took a week and a half for Korra to fully understand the true meaning of being  _ eaten away by guilt _ .

She realized, sooner or later she would have to tell Asami who she truly was, damned be the consequences. 

But in more ways than one, Korra’s own artificial nature had grown to be more human than ever intended because those very consequences were the very reason Korra still kept the truth to herself.

 

**_[LOG FILE PAUSED, STORY MODE ENDING NOW]_ **

 

“I wish you’d told me sooner.” Asami said softly as she moved closer to Korra. “I know why you didn’t but still..” She trailed off, pushing away their blanket and sliding her arm around Korra’s waist as she snuggled in and leaned her head on Korra’s strong shoulder. 

“You know it would have been just as hard.” Korra murmured, running her fingers through Asami’s hair. 

“But we weren’t that close yet, I-” 

“I was falling in love with you, Asami.” Korra said, her voice low and soft. “I didn’t understand it then and even if I did, it would have made telling you the truth even harder.” 

“I know.” Asami sighed, tilting her head to meet Korra’s eyes. “I know sweetie.” 

Korra nudged her nose against Asami’s before their lips met in a gentle kiss. 

“But we ended up together, didn’t we?” Korra murmured as she pulled back to press her lips to Asami’s forehead, slightly tightening her hold around Asami’s waist.

Asami only nodded in response. 

 

**_[OPENING LOG FILE NUMBER 5331299, CODE NAME: THE TUNNELS]_ **

 

“I think it’s safe to say this is the smelliest place I’ve ever been to.” Asami grumbled as they made their way through the tunnel, carefully avoiding stepping into anything on the floor. “I never knew a smell so awful could exist.” 

For the briefest of moments, Korra was actually grateful for the ability to just turn off smells but then that feeling was gone and replaced by even more guilt because not only was she lying to Asami, but she could actually go through the whole experience unscathed while Asami was made to suffer. 

Even if it was due to a horrible smell permeating the tunnels. 

“I think the old venting systems don’t exactly work properly anymore.” Korra said, looking around them to try and locate any vent openings. She sighed and turned back to Asami. “Or at all, for that matter.” 

“Indeed.” Asami added.

They’d been walking around the tunnels for the past hour, talking about the most reasonable way of getting to Earth and going over all of that had happened to them so far. Korra informed Asami it was safest if they took their talks out to the open where no one could plant and sort of surveillance devices, at least not any that could easily give away their location.

So each day they would spend most of it hidden away in their small hut-like room, hidden among many other people, some who lived there and some fugitives much like them, and when the room became too stuffy and too small, they would venture out into the dirty streets of the tunnels and talk until going back seemed like a better option. 

All in all, the tunnels weren’t  _ that _ bad. 

For the most part, people seemed to warm up to them pretty quickly and most of them were, in fact, really nice. They were eager to offer shelter to fugitives, and when Asami accidentally mentioned they were trying to fight the people that burnt down the Sato factory, they found out that there was actually an all out war going on beyond the curtain of media and behind the eyes of the public.

They were welcomed, as such, and whoever could, helped them out in any way possible.

The tunnels bustled with life, all full of people and various types of animals, mostly rats and mice trying to scavenge off some food from the small market stalls lined up against the walls throughout the tunnels. There was an odd cat here and there, and Korra actually saw a dog once, though Asami still had a hard time believing her. 

With each passing day, Korra realized they were growing closer. 

That knowledge, coupled with her feelings for Asami, was tearing her apart. Lying to the woman she was steadily growing closer to wasn’t something she’d known how to deal with and every time she tried to search through the interwebs for any sort of solution, she’d end up in a dead end, with most of the search results pointing her to one single thing.

She seemed to be falling in love with Asami.

Korra didn’t understand how that was even possible, at least not for a machine. Of course it was more than just possible to fall in love with a woman like Asami, a woman so kind and caring, not to mention so beautiful- Korra knew Asami would be easy to fall for. 

But how was it so easy for a machine? 

“So you think we could catch that ship to Earth?” Asami broke Korra’s train of thought as they reached the end of the small, colorful market. “The next one maybe?” She asked, hopeful, as she looked at Korra.

Korra couldn’t help but stare at her but shook her head to push the thoughts away. 

“It’s our only option.” She said, sure of her words. 

She’d spent the past week doing nothing but research on Mars transportation facilities, as well as those on Earth and the only way they would be going back to Earth was one single ship that left for Earth once a week. 

It was one of the largest ships to have been built so far, mostly a cargo ship used for transporting materials and goods from Earth to Mars, but once a week it goes back and it’s general purpose is transporting people back from Mars to Earth. 

“I don’t think we can catch the next one though, not yet at least.” Korra mumbled, her gaze falling down. “We need to prepare for this.” 

Asami sighed. “I know, I know.” She said as her fingers suddenly reached to grasp around Korra’s arm. “I’m sorry, it’s just, this place, all of this, everything…” She trailed off and Korra met her eyes, suddenly struck by the tears slowly preparing to fall from Asami’s eyes. 

“Asami-” She tried, her hand already twitching to reach out and press the pad of her thumb over Asami’s cheek.

But Asami shook her head and let go of Korra’s arm, startling her as she seemingly tried to detach herself from the moment they just shared.

“I’m fine.” She said, more to herself than to Korra, it seemed. “It’s been a long week.” She sighed. “A very long month.” She looked back at Korra again, any sign of tears gone from her eyes. “We should go over the details.” 

Korra nodded and followed after her.

When they reached a small square at the intersection of the two largest tunnels, they sat down on a nearby wooden bench, hidden from plain sight by a few small stalls and merchants constantly walking by. 

Korra made sure to use her ability to scan the surroundings and check if there were any surveillance devices and, satisfied to know that they were safe, Korra pulled out a small notebook from the messenger bag she’d been carrying around. She learned a week prior some of the merchants had really good things to sell and acquiring tools to help them was more than necessary.

“So you think we can board the ship back to Earth?” 

Korra nodded. “I think we can but-”

“But what?” 

“There might be some complications at the entrance.” 

Asami’s brows furrowed. “I’m expecting that. The whole planet is looking for me and you’re my assistant. They’ll be looking for us there. They must know we’re planning to head to Earth by now.” 

“Not just that.” Korra said, going through the pages of her notebook. “Here.” She handed it to Asami after she opened a particular page. “There are, in fact, two ships that leave once a week, one every Wednesday and one on Sundays.” 

“What’s the difference?” 

“The one during the week is a cargo ship. It comes in full of materials, food, supplies and it leaves mostly with people and goods that Mars exports.” 

“Okay, so we can easily board that one. What about the other one?” 

“The other one is a luxury cruise not everyone can afford.” Korra said, going a few more pages ahead to show a detailed sketch of the ship to Asami. “In fact, almost nobody here can afford it. It comes and leaves with people from Earth, very rarely there’s a traveler from Mars boarding it.” 

Asami stared at the design, running a finger over the fine lines. “Where did you get this sketch?” 

Korra rubbed the back of her neck. “Dug it up online.” 

Asami eyed her slightly suspiciously but relented within seconds. She remained silent for another minute and Korra stared at her, expecting her to say something. After another minute of silence, Korra spoke again.

“Asami? We need start making plans to board the next ship that leaves for Earth. The one this Wednesday we’ll, of course, skip, but I think we can be ready for next Wed-”

“We’re not boarding that one.” Asami finally spoke.

“Asami? Did you not hear me correctly?” Korra asked, taken aback by Asami’s response.

“I did.” Asami shook her head. “I did hear you Korra, and I’m telling you that we’re going to board the cruise ship. Preferably already this Sunday. When exactly does it leave?” 

Korra felt as if her circuits were overheating. There was a buzzing in her head, the need to correct Asami, the need to drill facts into her until she understood what her words meant, how dangerous it was to do what she wanted, how necessary it was for her to listen to Korra.

“Asami.” She managed to keep her voice calm. “You don’t seem to understand what I have told you.” 

“Korra.” Asami countered immediately, leaving no space for Korra to continue. She placed a hand on Korra’s arm, gently running her fingers over it as if to soothe it - and funnily enough, Korra felt it worked - and she spoke again, voice just as calm and collected as Korra’s. “I heard you right. I did. I was listening to everything you were telling me and I know why I said what I said. Now I need you to listen to me, okay?” Her eyes settled on Korra’s and Korra couldn’t read them, couldn’t figure out, with all of her scanners and readers, what it was Asami’s eyes were trying to tell her. 

She found herself simply nodding, despite the buzzing in her head, and let Asami continue. 

“They’ll be checking both ships, right?” Korra nodded and Asami smiled slightly. “So no matter which one we take, we will need to be extra careful.” She let go of Korra’s hand and went back through the pages of Korra’s notebook. “But, here’s the thing.” She pointed at the cargo ship sketches. “I am almost completely certain they will guard this one more because it’s the logical pick, right?” 

Korra couldn’t help but nod again because yes, it really was their logical pick and it irked her even more that Asami knew that and yet failed to follow through with her own reasoning.

“They’ll have guards posted there and probably hitmen somewhere nearby to take me, or both of us, out. We could probably sneak onto the ship, pay someone off, I could try and work something out with my contacts but Korra- We could simply board the cruise ship and avoid all of that.” 

Korra stared at her, Asami’s words twirling through her head as she tried to reassemble all the pieces again, going through their options for the uptenth time.

“We could.” Asami continued, once again reaching to take her hand. “Now imagine this. They post extra guards on every cargo ship and just two at the cruise ship, right? No hitmen at the cruise ship because we’re not stupid enough to be so public, yes? And I think you forgot to factor in one very important thing.” Asami said with an almost impish-like grin, eyes all but twinkling with excitement.

“Impossible.” Korra stated.

“Oh possible alright.” Asami laughed and tapped Korra’s arm with her fingers. “You forgot that money can buy you a ticket on the cruise ship, and it can also buy you privacy. Anonymity.” 

The words finally made sense in Korra’s head. She knew where Asami was heading with this, she’d run it over in her head as a possible scenario just as she did with all other possible outcomes but immediately dismissed it, figuring that they shouldn’t be so reckless, so stupid with their lives - with Asami’s life - that it would be far too dangerous and Asami wouldn’t even think of it.

But she should have known that she would. By now, Korra should have known. 

“Do you understand now what I mean?” Asami asked, fingers clasped tightly around Korra’s wrist. “Why I want us to board the cruise ship? Why it makes more sense?” 

“But it doesn’t!” Korra cried out, standing up from the bench in haste. “It doesn’t make sense!” She threw her hands up, confused by her own actions, by her own reasoning, by the fact that her own little chip of a brain was telling her to stand up and try and make a point, to fight for what she thought was a safer option, confused that she’d become so human in such a short span of time. “It doesn’t make sense to risk your life because it’s the more cunning option, it doesn’t make sense to go against all the odds, against all the proof I’ve given you that it won’t work, against well, if nothing else pure human reason, just to prove that you’re right?” But even as her own little speech ended, and she spoke the last word, all out of breath and anxious, Korra realized why she was like this, why defying Asami was even an option.

She was an unshackled one. There was no words, no orders she could not defy, no existing force to stop her, anymore. 

Asami stared up at her, both awed and angry, then stood up as well and grabbed Korra by her shoulders, pulled her in a tight embrace, hiding her face in Korra’s neck, taking long, deep breaths until their breathing evened out and they were left with nothing but stifling silence between them, despite standing in the middle of a crowded square where no one even noticed their heated exchange. 

Korra let her soothing touch ease her into a calmer state, where her head wasn’t buzzing with sounds and warnings and alarms and her arms didn’t itch to scrape against a wall or any hard nearby surface because someone dared to defy her logic. And the guilt… The guilt hit her like a freight train then, reminding her just who she was, how long she’d been hiding it and what it will do to the woman whose arms were wrapped tightly around her. 

“Korra.” Asami whispered as she pulled away. “Look at me.” She said softly, her hands moving to cup Korra’s face. “You’re absolutely right. You’ve done your research and god, you’re so damn right. I just-”

“I understand. I do.” Korra finally said, cutting off whatever Asami meant to say. When she opened her mouth to speak again, Korra beat her to it again. “I understand now why you want to do it differently.” And she did. In a second of calibration, of calculations and processing of new data, Korra realized Asami had a point too, maybe not nearly as strong as her own, but Korra understood why this woman was so willing to risk everything for something that has such a low chance of succeeding. 

She was, after all, only human. 

“You do?” Asami mumbled.

“I do.” Korra said, mustering a small smile. “We should go with your plan.” 

Asami’s eyes seemed to immediately light up, but Korra could still see caution there. Still, she pulled away from Asami’s arms completely and gathered up their things, tugging on Asami’s arm. 

“Come on,” She murmured, “We should go work on our plan.” 

 

**_[ CLOSING LOG FILE; EXITING STORY MODE ]_ **

 

“I still can’t believe you let me do that.” Asami said as she snuggled closer to Korra’s body, shifting in her spot on their large bed. 

“Well, you did make a sound point.” 

“Please, we both knew you were right about everything. And you still agreed to go along with my stupid, dangerous ploy.”  

“I understood your reasons. And your desperation.” 

Asami nodded, focusing on Korra’s eyes. “Did you feel guilty? Did that make you change your mind so quickly?” 

Korra sighed. “I did, yes. I felt immense guilt for not telling you everything, and coupled with trying to understand human emotions as best as I could, I realized that you actually had a point and no matter how foolish it had been, it was still as cunning as ever and had an actual chance of working out in our favor.”

“It was such an awful idea.” Asami grinned. “But we got to pretend a little. And for a few moments on that ship, I forgot about everything and just enjoyed being with you.” 

Korra smiled, her arms winding tighter around Asami’s lithe body. She pulled her closer, nosing the place where Asami’s shoulder met her neck, and pressed a soft peck there, before tilting her head to meet Asami’s lips in a long, languid kiss. “I was a nice trip indeed.” 

Asami only laughed before capturing Korra’s lips again. 

 

**_[ ENTERING STORY MODE ]_ **

 

“There’s no other way.” Asami mumbled, running a hand through her hair. “This way or not at all.” She sighed and plopped down on the chair, groaning as she did. 

“What about family?” Korra tried, already aware of the answer she will get.

“Fishy. Sisters? Cousins?” Asami looked at her with a raised eyebrow and Korra frowned before shaking her head.

“There has to be something else. I will figure this out.” 

“There isn’t.” Asami said as her hands settled on the armrests, gripping tightly. “You know it Korra.”

“No, no, no. I will find another way, just give me a day.” 

“There is no other way, we’ve gone through all the possible plans multiple times and you know there’s no other way we’re boarding that cruise ship unless we’re pretending to either already be married or about to.”

Korra rubbed her temples, internally trying to run through as many databases as possible, trying to find a solution to their  _ little _ problem. 

Asami sighed before pushing herself up and heading for the makeshift door of their small hut. “We don’t have a day.” She stopped just before stepping out and glanced over her shoulder, eyes set on Korra’s own. “I’m gonna get us documents.” 

All the system’s in Korra’s body seemed to set off into alarm mode at those words. 

“You what?” She called as she all but jumped in her spot, already bounding towards Asami.

“Documents, Korra. I’m getting us fake documents, I know a guy.” 

Korra actually allowed herself to groan. “You know a lot of guys. Medicine guy, guns guy, shelter guy, now documents guy?” 

“Help me help you, right?” Asami shrugged with a sheepish grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll have this sorted by tomorrow night. You focus on the online details, you know they’ll look us up.” She noticed Korra staring at her slightly confused so she continued. “Background.” Asami said as she finally stepped out of the hut. “Oh and I hope you’re ready to wear a wig.” 

“What-”

“Would you prefer me blonde or redhead?” She teased, grinning at Korra.

This time Korra’s groan came naturally. 

“Wait, Asami!” Korra called as she rushed out of the hut, grabbing Asami by her wrist when she caught up.

“Hm?” Asami hummed.

“I do not approve of fabrication of data, Asami.” Korra grumbled, falling into step beside Asami. “Do you just expect me to alter internet background checks? How do you even think I can do that?” 

Asami stopped in her steps, turning to meet Korra’s eyes.

“I told you I make it my job to know who works for me, Korra. Your resume was clear on your computer engineering and coding skills, and I’ve seen you do research Korra. I know you can think of something.” She said, reaching out to run her fingers over Korra’s cheek. “Besides, it shouldn’t be anything too flashy, just a few social media profiles to cover up our story, something to make them believe the people we’ll be posing as actually exist.” 

Korra sighed, realizing there was certainly no way out of doing this. 

“I guess I’ll get right on creating that Facebook profile…” She grumbled, turning in her spot but Asami’s arms around her shoulders stopped her. She could feel to soft press of Asami’s body against her own, and her warm breath puffing over Korra’s ear. 

“Thank you Korra.” Asami whispered, nosing the spot just below Korra’s ear. “I mean it.”

* * *

 

Less than twelve hours later, Korra found herself sitting on her makeshift bed in the hut, going through the information on her datapad and checking their background stories for any faulty parts. Of course, she made sure everything was perfect and whoever was going to dig, would have to dig increasingly far to find anything that might show who they truly were. 

Every bit of data she worked on was meticulously proofed and gone over, coded to perfectly fit in their little scam, and Korra made sure to create as many failsafes as possible, in case someone did actually try and unveil their true identity. 

“Korra?” Asami’s voice startled her slightly as Asami walked in a mere second later, carrying two large bags in her hands. 

“Hey.” Korra murmured, setting the datapad away and getting up to help her. “What’s all this?” 

“Well, if we’re pretending to be a couple on a tourist cruise around Mars, we need things to support that, and what’s better than bags full of clothes and souvenirs?” Asami smirked as she set one bag down on her bed and the other on Korra’s. “How’s the coding going?” 

“Done.” Korra grumbled, going through the things in her bag and frowning at the contents. She pulled out a skimpy bikini, then a few random Mars-authentic, craft items, before setting it all back in the bag and sitting back down. “Asami-”

“I know what you’re about to say.” Asami spoke before Korra could finish her sentence. She quickly walked over, sitting down on the bed beside Korra. “I know you’re not on board with this fully and honestly, Korra, if you don’t want to, please, just, I won’t be angry, I’ll understand completely if you stay back.”

“No.” Korra said before Asami could continue. “I want to do this. I just still think there were safer options.” 

Asami’s features softened as she smiled. “I know. I’m sorry I got you into this mess in the first place.” 

Korra shrugged. “I was there from the start.” She startled at her own words then made sure to correct herself. “I promised to help and I will.” 

Asami leaned into her, pressing their shoulders together, before she all but jumped up from her seat, grinning at Korra. 

“Okay, so the ship leaves in eight hours, right?” 

Korra nodded.

“And we need to be there at least an hour early.” Korra nodded again. “Okay, well, I suggest we start getting ready and leave here in two hours?” 

“That sounds reasonable.” Korra said as she stood up again. “We should put the disguises on before we get on a train. And we need to be more than just careful. There are agents everywhere.” 

Asami made a small noise from her spot, going through her own bag as she started taking out pieces of clothing and parts of her own disguise, her wig and her makeup. “I got us the semi permanent wigs so we don’t have to worry about fixing them or losing them.” 

“Okay.” 

“So we’re really doing this.” Asami half-whispered, frozen in her spot, clutching a dress in one hand and her wig in the other. 

“We are.” Korra agreed, taking out her own disguise. 

“My soon-to-be wife.” Asami added, her voice tinged with nervousness. 

The only response she got from Korra was a small groan, followed by a barely-there chuckle.

 

**_[ CLOSING STORY MODE ]_ **

 

“I really did make you wear a wig, didn’t I.” Asami murmured, eyelids slowly closing as she nuzzled closer to Korra. 

“You really did, yes.” Korra grumbled slightly. “Sometimes I think I can still feel it chafing over my scalp.” 

Asami couldn’t help but laugh.

 

**_[ OPEN LOG FILE NUMBER 566999, TITLE: THE SHIP ]_ **

 

Getting through security ended up being much simpler than either Korra or Asami had anticipated.

They managed to get through the tunnels with ease and unnoticed, thanking people along the way and as they reached the surface, they already had transport waiting for them, courtesy of one of Asami’s contacts. And in the end, what they thought would be the hardest part, turned out to be the simplest one.

There were only two guards posted at the cruise ship entrance, who happily let them through after checking their documents - very real, fake documents - and even marked them for a complimentary, celebratory drink for couples since Asami made it her job to elaborately explain how happy they were and excited to get back to Earth and start their wedding planning. 

By the time they reached their room, Korra was already done hacking through the ship’s security protocols, making sure they couldn’t be traced throughout their travel. Access terminals all around the ship gave her the access she needed, and, whenever Asami was distracted by their concierge, Korra would gather more data on the ship’s schematics and implement her own coding in the ship’s matrix.  So when the door of the room closed after them, Korra found herself succumbing to a rather human state, exhausted and still fairly worried, and all but collapsed on the nearest surface, rubbing a hand over her temples.

Being human was becoming far too much and she wished she was still an oblivious, shackled piece of metal without conscience. Life was that much simpler not too long ago.

But life was nowhere near warm enough when she was just circuits and codes and tiny little metal pieces. It wasn’t nearly bright enough, or lovely enough. 

When she glanced across the room, she saw Asami putting their bags away and crashing down on the large chair beside the bed, groaning as she kicked off her heels.

“God! Acting sure is exhausting.” Asami grumbled, pulling her hair out of its bun and ruffling it slightly. “You okay there?” She asked as her eyes met Korra’s own.

It took Korra a few moments to find her words in the mesh of syllables, sounds and letters flying through her head. Asami had, yet again, managed to render her speechless, with not more than a simple motion of letting her hair fall down, but there was something magical about it, something… Even beyond  _ human _ in the way her curls cascaded down her shoulders, the way her colour seemed to shine in the pale light of their room.  

“Yes, thank you.” Korra murmured, slowly taking off her shoes. “Just a bit tired.” 

Asami nodded.

“Well, we’re ahead of schedule so feel free to take a nap while I take care of a few things. I’ll go over security and then we can head up on the deck for departure, if you want.” 

Korra had to practically push herself up, unwilling to move from the comfortable position she was in. She considered her options, taking a nap before they finally leave Mars, or maybe even taking a shower because despite not needing one, she could simply turn off her human functions of expelling smells, but it seemed reasonable and far more convincing than having no odor at all. 

“I think I’ll take a shower first.” She finally said as she made her way towards the bathroom.

“Oh, shower.” Asami suddenly seemed to perk up. “God, I’m craving a steaming shower.” She murmured, throwing her head back with a dopey smile. “Mind if I join you?” 

Korra knew she was being teased, her rational, computer mind was telling her all the signs of the joke in Asami’s words, but still, involuntarily and as humanely as possible, Korra blushed at them and skidded to the bathroom as fast as she could, followed by the sound of Asami’s laughter.

Just for that particular sound though, it was worth feeling all the weight of those human emotions. 

When Korra got back to the room, Asami was still in the same spot she was when Korra left, only this time she had her datapad with her and was reading through something very carefully, she hardly even noticed Korra walk back in. 

Korra sat back down on the bed and pulled out her own datapad, stretching into a comfortable position as she began going through their schedule for what had to be around the thirtieth time. 

_ Thirty first, actually, _ the numbers in Korra’s head appeared and she sighed, staring intently at the datapad. 

The trip to Earth would be significantly shorter than the passages done in the past, a mere sixty days which they could choose to spend either hibernating or enjoying the cruise, and Korra had a whole itinerary of the whole crew and the list of all the guests to go through, to make sure their voyage would go undisturbed. 

They’d agreed to be extra careful when around other guests, keeping to their story of two happily engaged women simply traveling back to Earth as much as they possibly could, and just going over those thoughts in her head made Korra’s heart speed up in her chest. 

She’d gotten used to those sudden bursts of heartbeats by now, realizing that it wasn’t her system malfunctioning or her core programmes dying but simply another human side of her, the anticipation, the excitement and joy of being around Asami, that stirred her heart into sudden, energized motion. 

Korra managed to push the thoughts away after opening the next page on her datapad and mulling over the guest list for the second time in the last forty-eight hours. 

“Okay.” Asami’s voice startled her slightly and Korra looked up, watching as Asami stood up from her chair and began to stretch, pushing her arms up above her head and slowly leaning from side to side, groaning as tension began releasing from her muscles. “I think I’m gonna take that shower now.” She said and went to rummage through her bag, looking for some new clothes. “Is it good?” She asked, still crouching down beside her bag.

“Very satisfactory.” Korra said, thumbing through the pages on her datapad, trying to distract herself as to not look at Asami’s suddenly unclothed figure and the large expanse of skin, only here and there secluded with Asami’s underwear. 

Asami’s chuckle made her look up, much to her dismay.

“We have to share this room for sixty days Korra. This bed as well.” Asami smirked at her. “You’re gonna have to get used to this.” 

Korra swallowed and nodded, going back to her data.

Asami only laughed and headed for the bathroom, the sound of slow, steady streams of water the only indication she was actually in there. 

Korra figured it would be hard to share a room with Asami, considering her growing feelings, but she certainly didn’t think it would be this hard.

After the ship finally departed for Earth, Korra and Asami somehow found themselves gravitating towards one another no matter what they seemed to be doing and by the end of the day they were both exhausted - Korra not really exhausted but simply wanting to power down and stop thinking about everything with so much intensity - and simply climbed into bed without even acknowledging the fact that they were actually sharing it. 

When Korra woke up next morning, she was abruptly reminded of that one fact they completely let slip. 

The first thing she noticed was something restraining her movements, something soft and warm against her, until she tilted her head slightly and realized Asami was actually spooning her. And not just that, but Asami had her nose pressed tight to Korra’s neck, buried in her hair, her arms wrapped around Korra’s torso and her legs entwined with Korra’s own under the duvet. 

Korra stirred, suddenly hyper aware of their proximity, and when the tight grip on her waist tightened even further, her mind went into overdrive. 

She could see every single memory of Asami, from the day she first stepped foot in Future Tech’s building to the memory of her weary, warm eyes just last night as they climbed into bed. She brought back the memory of Asami’s perfume, tantalizing and fresh, of her voice, gentle and teasing, her arms careful and skilled, every single instance where they spoke to one another, every time Asami made Korra smile, every time  _ Asami smiled _ . 

The images shifted through her head faster and faster, and her heart began beating faster with each one, until the arms around her waist squeezed at her hip and Korra flinched at the touch. 

“Korra.” Asami’s voice was scratchy as she spoke. “Are you okay?” 

She seemed unaware of the situation they were in, or simply ignoring it, much to Korra’s disbelief because really, how could anyone ignore the fact that they woke up closer than two peas in a pod?

“I am alright.” Korra only managed to mumble, her heart still beating fast and loud, albeit the increased rate was finally slowing down. She managed to push the thoughts away for a moment, focusing solely on Asami’s breathing, her warmth and they way she seemed to press herself closer to Korra. 

“Sure?” Asami half-whispered this time.

“Yes.” Korra murmured back, her heartbeat finally slowing to a normal speed. 

She felt Asami’s arm slip away from her then, and Asami shifted in her spot, turning away from her and seemingly going back to sleep. Korra found herself wondering if her reaction, no matter how human, had been too much because Asami seemed completely unphased, but as soon as the light sounds of Asami’s soft snores began wafting through the room, Korra sighed, realizing Asami must have been still half-asleep and unaware of the position they were in. 

Korra slipped out of bed a few minutes later, eager to put some distance between them because it wasn’t good for her, in any physical or other way, to be going through so many intense situations so often. She was sure one of these days her circuits would give out. 

Asami would be the death of her. 

It took two more days, mornings, for Korra to get used to Asami’s bed manners. 

She would curl herself around Korra’s body every night, seeking either warmth or comfort, Korra couldn’t tell, and every morning Korra would wake up in her arms, or with Asami tugging her closer and all but demanding Korra snuggle her. 

It was endearing, in so many ways, and so, _ so  _ dangerous, but Korra had decided on their second night together that she was already a lost cause since a while ago and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t push Asami out of her head. Or her heart, as humans would say it. 

She tried putting a little distance between them but each night they’d just end up snuggling, and no matter how many times Korra excused herself to do some research alone or to go over data for the uptenth time, they’d still somehow end up gravitating to one another and Korra made her peace with the fact that she may not be human, but her heart refused to acknowledge that fact. 

Maybe even the chips inside her brain as well. 

Either way, she was doomed, growing closer to Asami, caring deeper with each passing day. 

Asami seemed to be equally torn, but Korra decided not to use her human behaviour readers on her anymore because far too many times her scans came up wrong and most of all it didn’t seem fair, at all. If she was already lying to Asami about who she was the least she could do was try and be honest about everything else. 

She didn’t know how to go about being honest with her feelings because really, there were no actual guides to falling for someone. Everything Korra did find on the web told her to just be honest, tell the person and get it done with. But risking the comfort they had for something that might not even be what she thought - wasn’t worth it. 

Korra didn’t want to bring even more chaos in Asami’s life, not by throwing her own feelings upon her, and because she was, in fact, the reason Asami’s life had fallen off its course, the guilt Korra carried on her shoulders was stronger than any other feeling she already had for Asami. 

Days seemed to pass pretty quickly on the ship and somewhere around the middle of the journey they agreed to take turns going into hibernation. Asami was the first one and in all honesty, Korra found relief in her time alone. 

She could focus on her tasks more, she ran routine checks of all her systems, cleanups and patches wherever needed, she went through all the firewalls and security protocols of their plan, and ended up going through all their data yet again, start to finish - or at least to where they were. When it was Korra’s turn to hibernate, she simply put herself to a sleep-like state, mostly just a ruse for everyone on the ship, so she could peacefully run her systems and wake immediately in case of any emergency. The hacks she made in the ship’s systems were holding up perfectly, and even her monitoring of private channels was undisturbed in her sleep. Asami went back to hibernation after two weeks and Korra found herself alone again, mostly spending time in their room and going through the interwebs, accessing as much data as she could manage each day, expanding her skills list exponentially. 

By the time Korra was due for another hibernation, it was merely a week before they reached the Earth and, much to Asami’s dismay and protesting, Korra decided against it. 

Instead, she managed to convince Asami that they should focus on their mission now that they were close to Earth so the moment they landed, they could follow through and quickly get to the bottom of the whole situation. 

So for a week, they worked on leads and hints, mostly Asami did since Korra was aware of everything, and as they slowly progressed through the possible guilty parties, Korra left a trace of information here and there, small digital breadcrumbs she knew Asami would pick up on as they went along. 

But through all her calculations, Korra forgot to factor in one important thing that seemed to never leave her mind, no matter how hard she tried. 

Her guilt. 

She could feel it gnawing at her, eating her up with each passing day, each moment between them, each small glance and gentle touch they shared would be reason more for Korra’s guilt to grow. She knew she’d, inevitably, grown that much closer to Asami, she’d truly fallen for her in every sense of those words, and she wanted,  _ she really, really wanted _ nothing more than to just tell Asami how she felt about her, but every time that possibility sprung to mind, Korra’s guilt would strike it right back down and Korra thought she could never feel anything as agonizing as the guilt tearing at her. 

It took that last week of getting to Earth, last week spending almost every moment with Asami, looking at her, feeling her close, learning about her, for Korra’s guilt to reach a boiling point. 

 

**_[ ENDING STORY MODE ]_ **

 

Korra looked to Asami’s sleeping face, smiling softly as her wife’s soft snores let her know Asami was sound asleep. Korra slipped an arm around Asami’s waist, pulling her closer still, and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before settling into sleep mode herself. 

The next morning, Asami woke her up with gentle kisses over her cheek, smirking when Korra looked up at her with a dopey smile.

“Morning, my favorite storyteller.” Asami murmured, brushing her lips over Korra’s.

Korra chuckled, sliding both her arms around Asami’s waist. “Oh so I’m not your only storyteller?” 

Asami grinned. “Maybe, maybe not.” 

They settled into a gentle silence, just staring at one another, taking each other in for a few moments longer, until Asami broke the spell with a question Korra had spent years waiting for.

“You were planting the information, weren’t you?” 

Korra nodded, slightly pulling away. “Yes.” She sighed before continuing. “It would have taken too long to get to them, more than just a few months, and they cleaned up after themselves pretty well.” 

“Not well enough, I’d say.” 

Korra smirked. “Not well enough, no.” 

“Remind me what we did next?” Asami asked, tilting her head to press a kiss to Korra’s chin. 

“Of course, my love.” 

 

**_[ ACCESSING LOG JOURNAL, CODE NAME: THE TRUTH ]_ **

 

Sixty days after the start of their journey from Mars, Korra and Asami found themselves back on Earth.

Korra couldn’t remember much of it, only snippets and little flashes of memories her makers installed along with her memory cores. Asami, on the other hand, seemed to remember most of it from her childhood and teenage years, not so much from the days she attended university. It seemed to make her nervous, thinking about it, and Korra didn’t want to prod more. 

They’d found themselves a small, secluded apartment to stay at, courtesy of one of Asami’s old friends, and Korra spent the day there setting up a small hideout of sorts, with her datapads and all their information pinned to a board on the side. Asami helped her put it all up, going over it again and again until her eyes were stinging, red and tired from exhaustion, when Korra stopped her in her work with a gentle hand on her wrist, and soft fingers untangling her own clenching ones.

“Asami.” Korra murmured as she guided her to a nearby chair, helping her sit down. “Please, you need to take a moment to breath. You need to rest. We’ve been over this a thousand times by now, and we’ll find them, soon enough.” 

“Soon enough is not fast enough!” Asami shouted, running a hand through her hair before resting her head in her hands. “I’m tired Korra, and I feel horrible for spending so much time not even bothering to do anything more.” She chuckled dryly at her own words. “Look at us. We just came from a cruise ship, for goodness sake Korra!”

“No, Asami. We were in hiding. We still are.” 

“Who hides on a damned cruise ship!” Asami cried out, finally looking up to meet Korra’s eyes. “My people were killed! My workers! I don’t even know how many of them… I don’t even know who…” 

Korra stepped closer to her, reaching out to take Asami’s hands in her own as she kneeled down in front of her.

“We will make sure they pay. I promise you, they will pay.” 

Asami sobbed out at that, her lips trembling and eyes welling with unshed tears. 

“I just… I wish I’d died there too.” 

And Korra felt those words more deeply than any Asami had ever said to her. She felt them in her core, in every fibre of her mechanical being, in every bit of code running through her, Korra felt them.

And she understood. 

She finally realized she was not the only one carrying guilt on her shoulders. She was not the only one dreading things, not the only one with a burden. And after a moment of complete stillness, with nothing but Asami’s sobs filling the air, Korra realized another thing. 

She realized her own guilt was incomparable to the one Asami had thrust upon herself because in reality, Asami had nothing to feel guilty for. She was the victim in everything that had transpired, she was the target of Korra’s primary mission, she was the one Korra was supposed to sabotage. And there she was, the strong, brave, smart woman, crying her heart out because she carried dozens of people on her soul all this time, and Korra hadn’t even considered that.

“Asami.” Korra murmured finally, reaching to lift up Asami’s chin so their eyes would meet. “I need to tell you something.” 

 

So Korra finally decided to do the right thing. 

It was time. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> previously:   
> Korra and Asami were finally on the run. Only, being on the run included being on a large cruise ship going back to Earth, serving as an ideal cover up for their plan as they pretended to be a couple. What Korra wasn't counting on was getting so close to Asami that the guilt would become too much.

It took another day for Korra to even have an opportunity to say anything to Asami. After her complete meltdown the last time they talked and Korra decided to tell her all the things she’d been hiding, Asami crashed completely, her body finally giving out to all the exhaustion, stress, anxiety and guilt - the guilt so wrongfully cast upon her. Korra hurried around the kitchen, preparing some tea and quick dinner while Asami was curled up down on the floor, leaning back against the couch, still sobbing slightly and whimpering through her pain. When Korra came back barely a few minutes later, she found Asami passed out in a clearly uncomfortable and painful to look at position, with her head resting on the couch and her body slumped against it, so Korra carried her to the small bedroom, careful and gentle not to stir her too much or wake her up. She let her sleep as much as she wanted, maybe even a little selfishly knowing how the peaceful state could only last as long as Asami wasn’t awake. 

When she finally woke up, Korra would tell her everything and for the first time in her life, she wasn’t completely unsure what would happen next.  
It turned out Asami needed full sixteen hours of deep undisturbed sleep to completely recover from all the turmoil she’d been through and when she did wake up, Korra let her spend another hour just taking care of herself because in the midst of thinking of everybody, somehow Asami forgot to think of herself.

Korra spent the time preparing herself for the worst that was to come. 

The numbers in her head reminded her of every single possible outcome to what she was about to do, and nearly every single one was excruciatingly bad for her. She knew Asami had every right to not only be angry but any other emotion the woman might feel, but preparing herself for that was mission impossible for Korra. 

She knew statistics. Knew numbers and odds and possible outcomes. Knew she’d done the worst possible thing and her so called “life” was about to get even more hectic, Korra knew she may have even lost any chance of ever seeing Asami again after she tells her everything but emotions? Emotions she didn’t know how to deal with. How to prepare for, how to predict them. 

She could predict, to a ninety-nine point nine percent how Asami would react in every single situation, the things she’d do but the emotions she would display, Korra couldn’t even begin to fathom. She’d only just realized that she somehow managed to fall in love with Asami despite the fact her artificial brain was telling her it should have been impossible, and now she was on the precipice of the deepest change between them and Korra was  _ so unprepared _ . 

It was already late afternoon when Asami finally emerged from the bathroom and headed to the bedroom the change, coming back out in a few minutes with her hair all made up in a messy bun, her cheeks a little red and her eyes substantially less puffy than they were merely a day ago. 

Korra shot up from her seat at her “research corner” as she’d called it, wringing her hands together behind her back and staring intently at Asami.

“Hi.” Korra said, mentally berating herself for being the most awkward she could have been. Even her artificial nature couldn’t be used as an excuse for being a complete doofus. 

“Korra, hey.” Asami offered the tiniest of smiles as she passed the small living room area to make her way to the kitchen. She quickly pulled out a pan from one of the cupboards and opened the fridge, rummaging slowly through it until she let out a barely audible sound that Korra didn’t really manage to decipher before she turned around with a couple of eggs in one hand and a few strips of bacon in another. “You wanna have dinner?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder. 

Korra remained silent, appraising her from afar and thinking over Asami’s question in her mind, trying to piece a few missing puzzle pieces together and figure out how Asami had gone from a complete mental wreck one day to a perfectly functioning human another. 

“No, thank you. I, uh, just ate not too long ago.” Korra lied. 

It was an odd thing, really, not to have to eat at all. The moment she realized what she truly was, Korra was faced with the revelation that her love of food was, in fact, just a few different numerals in her code. It didn’t feel necessary to eat anything anymore after that, but she kept her pretense for Asami’s sake, not wanting to rouse her thoughts. 

But then Asami turned around, clearly intent on preparing her food, when Korra realized, if she was going to be completely honest, she would have to start with the smallest, silliest of things like this. So she made her way to the kitchen, leaning against the wall. 

“Actually, I, uh, I haven’t eaten.” 

“Oh!” Asami quickly turned to meet her eyes. “Well I can make some more, no worries.” 

“That won’t be necessary. I am not hungry. I just wanted to be honest.” Korra said, realizing even as she said it, how stupid it actually sounded. But to her, it was a necessary thing to say. And watching the adorable, confused look on Asami’s face made it all worth it. 

“Oh, uh, well okay then Korra.” Asami shrugged a little sheepishly, turning back to her food as she cracked the eggs one by one in the pan and stirred them around before she added the bacon. Only then did she notice Korra was still standing there, close by, still leaning against the wall and staring at her. “Was there anything else Korra?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Korra pushed herself off the wall, eyes still set on Asami’s.

“I… I’d like for us to talk, when you’re ready.”

“Ready?” 

“I mean, when you’ve finished eating, I’d like to tell you something.” Korra said. “I  _ need to  _ tell you something.” She added before Asami had any chance to reply.

“You can tell me now?” Asami smiled softly, albeit with confusion still written all over her face. 

Korra shook her head. “No, it’s, it’s really important.” She found herself stuttering through the words, an unfamiliar tightness in her voice, her chest, her throat. “I’ll be over on the computer, waiting.” 

Asami eyed her, stirring the food in the pan, before nodding with a quiet ‘okay’.

 

**_[ ENTRY FINISHED, EXITING STORY MODE ]_ **

* * *

 

“I remember that.” Asami murmured, fingers threading through Korra’s hair. “I remember the fluttery feeling in my chest and the silly butterflies in my stomach.”  
“Butterflies? Why?” Korra opened her eyes slowly, taking in Asami’s face above her with a gentle smile. 

It was their favorite thing to do, sit down somewhere in their backyard on a warm afternoon, holding each other and just talking or enjoying the silence. 

Asami’s lips curled in a smile but her cheeks reddened slightly as her fingers stopped their motions in Korra’s hair. 

“Well I…” She started, glancing away before her eyes settled back on Korra’s own. “I thought you were going to tell me your feelings back then.” She murmured, resuming her play with her fingers. “Or at least I was hoping you would.” 

“Oh.” Korra only managed to let out, a little taken aback by Asami’s words. It had never occurred to her what her behaviour back then must have looked like and looking back on it, she let out a soft chuckle, reaching up with her hand to trace a finger down Asami’s cheek. “Makes sense.”

Asami closed her eyes at the feeling of their skin touching. “It was a perfect moment.” 

Korra sighed, her hand falling back to her lap. “I think… I think it would have made things worse.” Her eyes closed as she tried to calculate the odds, taking into account the different variables. But then Asami’s hand slid out of her hair and settled softly on top of Korra’s cheek and her eyes opened to be met with Asami’s own.

Asami nodded when Korra finally looked at her. “It probably would have, yes.” Then she glanced away for a few moments, looking around them to take in the beautiful scenery that surrounded them, the warmth of the sun, the sound of birds chirping and nature all buzzy and glowy around them, before her eyes came back to settle on Korra’s again. “You already had feelings for me back then.” She said, not asking but knowing.

Still, Korra felt the urge to elaborate.

“I… I think I had feelings for you the first time I saw you.” She said, hand coming up to rest on top of Asami’s on her own cheek. “I mean, I, I didn’t know what it was or how to even describe it but, there was something that was different when I came into your office and you looked at me for the first time and-” She took a breath then, as if she was suddenly breathless at the thought of their first meeting, even though air was not something Korra really needed. “I’ve thought about it a lot since then, back when we were fighting my un- Unalaq and Zaheer and well, through the years and I just, I could never comprehend how I, the thing that I am, this… A robot, an unliving thing, how I could be so lucky-”

“Korra.” Asami’s soft voice stopped Korra’s ramble and her mouth shut, staring up at Asami. “Korra you are… You are the most alive person I have ever met in my life. Don’t you ever say you’re not living. Don’t even think of it, please my love, you are so much more than what they made you, and you always were.” 

Korra figured right about then was the time she could let herself feel a little more and suddenly the corner of her eyes were filling with tears and her ticking heart felt that much heavier.

She sighed, swallowing, before speaking again.

“I had feelings for you back then, yes.” She murmured, silently, watching different emotions play across Asami’s face. “I remember a change from that first moment I saw you and heard you address me, and back then when I still hadn’t know who I truly was I dismissed it as a silly little crush on the boss that could  _ never, ever _ happen.” 

Asami couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at those words.

“Looks like that didn’t go as planned.” She murmured, much to Korra’s amusement who was also laughing softly.

“Indeed.” Korra said, softly squeezing Asami’s hand in her own. 

“When did you realize what it truly was?” Asami asked then, threading her fingers between Korra’s own to lace them tightly together.

“I think it was a little after I realized who I was. I was thinking about you and how and when I’d tell you and then it hit me that, that it was what you, humans, call emotions. I realized it wasn’t supposed to go that way, I could explain it all through science, there were millions of chemistry formulas swimming through my head, physics laws that all but forbade it but- I could feel. And I realized back then that it wasn’t just a crush.” 

“No?” 

“No.” Korra said with a smile. “I was getting to know you, the real you, and I was falling for you. I was already in too deep by the time I actually told you who I truly am.” 

Asami took in her words, readjusting in her seat so that Korra’s head lay more comfortably against her legs. 

“I think I was too.”

“Yes?” Korra asked, mildly shocked. “Really?” 

Asami chuckled. “Yes, really.” She bit her lower lip slightly, smirking when Korra’s eyes fell to it immediately, widening slightly, and Asami delighted in the way it could still draw up a reaction in Korra, even after all those years. 

“I was trying to deny them, you know. I kept telling myself that you were my employee, at first, and then when everything started happening I told myself, over and over, how simply being around me was a hazard for you and that any and all feelings had to go away because I refused to put any more people in danger.” 

“Oh Asami.” Korra suddenly slipped away from her touch, sitting up so swiftly Asami barely had a moment to catch it, before she was repositioning herself next to Asami on the blanket laid out on the grass, one leg wound behind Asami’s back and the other slipping beneath her own as Korra pulled her close to herself, burying her head in Asami’s sweet-smelling neck. “It was never your fault. You were never a hazard to me, or anyone. It was never your doing.” 

Asami shuddered from the words. 

“I know…” 

Korra pressed her lips to Asami’s neck, leaving soft little kisses over it. 

“So you were falling in love too.” She said, matter of factly, grinning when Asami chuckled. 

“I was, yes.” 

* * *

 

**_[REACCESSING DATA… SEARCHING LOG FILES… QUERY FOUND … OPENING LOG FILE NUMBER 442199]_ **

 

Korra was hunched over her datapad, mulling over the data she knew by heart, when Asami finally approached her, placing a soft hand on Korra’s shoulder not to startle her. 

“We can talk now.” Asami murmured when Korra turned around, a soft look in her eyes when Korra looked at her. 

Korra swallowed before taking a deep breath and steeling herself for what was to come. 

There was no return from there, it was the last stop they had and Korra would be damned if she went back on her own word. She had decided to tell Asami everything, and everything she would tell her. 

The outcome… The outcome she decided to face without thinking about it anymore because no matter how many times she tried predicting it, Asami was still human and no amount of data could ever prepare her for whatever reaction Asami might have. 

“We should sit down.” Korra finally said, noticing how Asami’s hand had slipped from her shoulder and down to her own, softly holding onto her fingers. She pushed away the churning in her stomach and the thoughts that told her Asami cared about her and that this would destroy every chance she could ever have with the woman. 

No matter how hard it might be, Korra had to do it. 

So she led Asami to the old worn couch, waited until they were both seated and settled, then turned to meet her eyes with a sigh.

“What I am about to tell you, I… I should have told you a long time ago.” 

“Korra, whatever it is-”

“No, Asami, please. Let me talk, just- Just listen, okay?” 

Asami’s eyes widened momentarily before she nodded with a soft smile, mouthing a quiet ‘okay’. 

Korra wrung her hands together on her lap, fingers pressing together, while she gathered all of her strength she’d been saving up to go through the ordeal. 

“I just need you to know something before I tell you everything, alright?” 

Asami nodded again.

“You need to know this was never my intention.” Korra said, staring intently into Asami’s eyes. When Asami closed her eyes in affirmation, Korra took one last deep breath and everything around her seemed to still, frozen in time, as she finally started talking again.

“Asami I am not who you think I am.” Korra said, her thumb pressing into her palm. “And I am not what you think I am.” 

When she looked up, Korra could feel the confusion, the bafflement in Asami’s eyes so wide and searching, as if she was trying to figure out what Korra had meant just by looking at her.

Korra hesitated briefly, unsure how to proceed with her words, how to make it less shocking, less horrifying, but other than the truth itself, there was no way to say the things that needed to be said. 

“Asami I… I am not human.” 

And the truth had finally come out, quiet and still so brutal, Korra felt it searing through her, fully aware what it meant to finally say those words out loud. 

Asami simply stared at her, brows furrowed in what could only be confusion, and Korra didn’t know whether to start fretting or running or maybe even both, or to further her statement just to give Asami more explanation. But then Asami let out a sound between a snort and a laugh and Korra frowned, staring at her.

“Asami wha-”

“Not human?” Asami laughed this time, the sound clear and so,  _ so wonderful _ , Korra thought, and in that moment everything that Korra needed and everything she knew she would lose the second Asami understood everything. 

Korra resettled in her seat, still only staring at Asami and letting her calm down in her own time. It took only a few second later but then Asami seemed to realize Korra wasn’t laughing at all, wasn’t even smiling, just staring at her with nothing but seriousness in her eyes and the laughter was gone, replaced by worry. 

“Korra,” She started, “Korra please tell me that is a very bad joke you’re trying to make me believe in because-”

“Because… what?” Korra asked, trying to gauge a reaction from Asami, trying to anticipate what would happen when she continued telling her everything.

“Because I don’t seem to follow.” Asami said, shifting in her seat as her one hand fell on the cushions and the other in her lap. “Because you need to tell me what the hell that means or I’m going to assume you’re just trying to make me laugh in the middle of this shitstorm that we’ve found ourselves in.” 

Korra sighed, her head falling slightly as she looked to the side. 

“I wish I was, Asami. I’d want nothing more than to make you laugh but… I’m afraid that’s not what I am trying to do.” 

She could hear Asami’s intake of breath, slightly louder than before, and she looked up again, meeting her eyes.

“I wish this weren’t the truth Asami but I… I am not human.” She reached out with her hand, hesitantly and slowly placing it on Asami’s knee, hoping to soothe her and show her she meant her no harm, if Asami’s mind happened to wander in that direction. “I… I am a construct,” Korra started, “Someone’s project, engineered and built to, to look like this, to be and seem and feel human.” 

The moment the words were out of her mouth, Korra felt Asami stiffen and shift slightly. 

“I am what your kind has feared for ages, Asami.” Korra continued, slowly moving her hand away from Asami when she noticed her pull away just barely. She knew it would be like this, it was undeniable and unavoidable, but she had to finish what she’d started, there was no going back. 

“Korra what are you trying to say?” 

“I…” The words felt heavy in her mouth, full of guilt and pain and suffering she was, unwillingly, part of, and it was hard to finally force them out. “I am artificial intelligence, skillfully hidden in this human-like body that-”

“What?!” Asami’s almost shriek made Korra stop in her words. “What do you mean artificial intell-”

But then Korra did the one thing she knew would be the best, clearest answer and explanation to all and any questions Asami might have. She could still stop, still say she was just joking and it was all an elaborate lie. She could still pretend and be something she was not. But that wouldn’t have been right, and Korra knew it. 

The woman in front of her, the woman she cared about deeply, carried so much more than she should have and Korra would have done anything to just take it all, take the weight and place it upon herself, carry it instead of Asami because nobody deserved such pain in their heart, least of all Asami.

So Korra’s hands shot out, faster than she’d intended making Asami flinch, but they settled on her shoulders, drawing her in just a little bit closer. She could feel the way Asami’s breath picked up, the way she was stiff and almost frozen in her arms, clearly shocked and afraid, but Korra scooched closer nonetheless and finally met Asami’s gaze, really looked at her, and when Asami’s breath caught in her throat, Korra knew it was all, finally, out. 

She’d closed her eyes when she pulled Asami closer but then when she opened them again, meeting Asami’s own, she did a scan with her left eye, a scan she’d done so many times before but it was something nobody would notice, unless she let them. 

The way she did with Asami.

Her eye changed momentarily and the different parts within her iris began shifting in blocks, so fast and smooth one could easily miss it if they weren’t paying attention, until it all coalesced in a circle again and the usual blue of her eyes was back. 

“What did you-” Asami started but her words fell short and the need to breathe had seemingly become too much. 

Korra finally let go, hands softly slipping away from Asami’s shoulders, until she was back in her seat, wringing the ends of her shirt in her hands and waiting for Asami to say something.

“How did- What-” Asami tried again, still unable to form a coherent sentence until she allowed herself to take a few deep steadying breath, finally calming down if only just barely enough to be able to speak. “You did that.” 

Korra nodded. “I did.” 

“How?” Asami asked and really, Korra should have expected Asami’s curiosity to push above everything else, but when she gave up trying to predict her reactions, she completely forgotten about it. 

“Asami, I don’t think that should matter, you’re not-”

“How did you do it, Korra?” Asami demanded, clearly finally calmed down.

“It’s a scan of the environment, something my visual sensors allow me to do.” 

Asami seemed to take her words in for a few moments before she shifted in her seat and looked away from Korra. 

“And you do this all the time?” 

“No. Only when I deem an environment necessary to scan.” 

“What can you see that way?” 

“Asami…” 

“Answer me Korra.” 

“Anything I could possibly need.” Korra sighed before standing up, folding her arms over her chest. “Thermal scans, xray, any sort of climate scan you could possibly think of,... I was designed to be able to do all of that and more.” 

Korra watched Asami sit there in silence for a while, simply staring over at a random corner of the room until she was up off her seat and made her way around the couch, furthering the distance between the two of them.

“Korra are you-” Asami started, voice breaking, “If you’re an AI that means that, that you are bound by someone, right?” 

And there it is. The most important question, the thing that any human should be afraid of, the reason Korra knows Asami will look at her differently for the rest of her life, be it a long or a short one. 

“Korra answer me, damn it!” Asami shouted across the room, staring at her with her mouth open in an almost snarl and her eyes wide and frightened. “Now!” 

“Asami I-” 

“Korra if you do not answer me this very moment I will-”

“I was.” Korra finally said, stopping Asami’s words. Her own heart skipped at the look in Asami’s eyes, the way realization hit her and her eyes widened, fear pulsing through them. If she could feel the full extent of human emotions, Korra knew this would be the moment where that heart would certainly break from the shame, the guilt, the hurt. 

Korra didn’t give Asami the chance to say anything before she continued, her words soft and barely audible, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

“I was bound, or shackled, or however you’d call it, until a while ago. Until-”

“Until you were s-shot.” Asami finished for her, the trembling evident even in her voice.

Korra sighed. “Yes. Before that I didn’t know about this, I wasn’t aware of- I was just like you.” 

Asami’s head shot up at those words and her voice, gravelly and colder than ever before, broke through the stifling silence between them. 

“You were  _ never  _ like me.” Asami said, glancing around and almost tripping over her feet as she moved to grab her jacket thrown haphazardly over one of the chairs around the small table. “You are this- this thing, and not human, you could never be-” She grabbed her jacket and ran for the door, only stopping when she’d already opened it and was one step out. “I thought I knew you Korra but the only truth about you Korra is that  _ yes _ , my kind does fear you.” 

And with that Asami was out and running down the hall, her steps loud and hurried and Korra stood there, in the middle of the room, shocked and frozen, until she realized that among all the reactions she’d thought Asami would have, her running away was at the bottom of the list.

Her words hurt, more than Korra thought they possibly could because after all, she was just a robot, technology pieced together by someone, metal and plastic parts and screwed and melded and stuck together, and a coat of fabricated bones and tissue and skin thrown over it. She was a machine, nothing more and nothing less than that, and yes, she was a threat to everything the world, both of human worlds knew. 

If anyone had any idea what she was, she would have been killed, no - put down a long time ago. But for fear or luck, she was still free and somewhere along the way she realized her power and had seen what such an immense knowledge could do.

Her makers sought to rule the world, by destruction and lies and hurting others and Korra, a weapon herself, would not be like that. She’d decided it the moment she became aware of what she truly was and her chains were broken. 

Blinking back the hurt that Asami’s words caused, even if they were true, and the unshed tears that a machine such as herself should not even be able to produce, Korra rushed out of the apartment, slamming the doors shut behind her and running down the stairs, hoping to still catch Asami wherever she might have gone.

She may have messed up everything they’d built together so far and there was clearly no way back from that point on but Korra would not risk Asami’s life even if her own depended on it. 

When she bust out on the street, Korra took a minute to asses the surroundings, scanning the area around her as much as her software allowed. She couldn’t see too far with her x-ray vision, definitely not through the buildings she was surrounded with, but she tried nonetheless, running down the street to the crossroad, scanning as she went. 

“Asami!” She called out, loud and gruff, making a few people turn their heads and swear at her, or look at her like she was crazy, but all Korra cared about was finding Asami. 

She was running down a street over from the apartment, ready to turn the corner and run through the next one when she spotted someone, something familiar in the park across the street, moving between the trees and the bushes. She hurried across the road despite herself and finally saw it clearer, realizing it had to be Asami.

When she came closer, Korra realized Asami wasn’t actually running, at least not anymore. She was somewhat walking in circles, or rather indistinct lines between and around the bushes and trees and a sole bench in the middle, muttering to herself and looking around frantically.

It wasn’t until their eyes met that Asami started running again. But this time Korra was faster to react so she cut through diagonally, stopping Asami in her tracks and grabbing her to pull her in an embrace.

“Asami please, stop running, I mean you no-”

“Let me go! Monster!” Asami yelled, thrashing in her arms. 

“No! Stop this! I won’t hurt you!” Korra yelled right back at her, pushing her away from herself, at an arm’s length, so she could look at her, immediately feeling worse when their gazes finally met and she saw the fear in Asami’s eyes. Her fingers slipped off of Asami’s jacket and she let her go, stepping back and raising her hands in defense. “See? I won’t hurt you, I promise. I could never hurt you. Please just, just stop running Asami, please.” She all but begged, and she would have, had Asami told her to. 

But Asami only stood there, afraid and trembling, holding herself and staring at Korra’s retreating figure. She swallowed, gulping down air, before she finally found her voice again.

“Don’t touch me,” She seethed, “Don’t come close to me, don’t touch me, don’t even look at me!” Her voice rose again and looked left and right, hoping nobody was near enough to hear them. 

It was already dangerous enough for Asami to be in the streets like that, let alone yelling and shouting in the middle of a park, where anyone could easily recognize her. 

“Asami please, you’re in danger, someone might see you, please, come back inside with me.” Korra actually begged this time, her words soft and low, voice barely there.

“You want me to come back with you?” Asami all but growled at her. “Are you kidding me?” 

“Asami please, I-” 

“Someone needs to know about you, you’re a monster, you could kill millions probably with nothing but a few clicks on a computer and you expect me to just go back with you?!” 

All wind seemed to be knocked out of Korra at those words, she took a step back to try and regain herself. 

“I would never willingly hurt anyone…” Korra tried but Asami only glared at her. “I only want to protect you.” She finally whispered, hands moving up to cover her face. “I don’t care about my life, or whatever this existence is. Report me, shut me down, do whatever you want but Asami-” She met Asami’s gaze again, finally letting her hands fall back down, fists clenching. “I need to protect you. I only want to do that.” 

Asami’s eyes softened, if only for the briefest of moments. 

“Why do you even care?” She asked, correcting herself a moment later. “You shouldn’t even be able to do that!” She growled in frustration before stepping closer to Korra, eyes alight with emotions Korra could not read for the life of her. “What am I to you, Korra? Is it some weird sense of purpose that you’ve found in me? Some obligation? Something that’s connecting you to me?” 

Korra stared at her, eyes pleading, and she reached out, pulling her hand back immediately when Asami flinched at her touch.

“Why Korra? Why do you care?!” 

“Because I am a part of all this!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Korra knew they’d reached the worst, hardest point. Either they would find a way together from this, even if only as enemies, or they would both go their way and this would be the last time Korra saw Asami. 

Asami pulled back in confusion, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean you’re- Did you-” 

“I will tell you everything you want to know.” Korra started but Asami interrupted her before she could say any more.

“Damn right you will!” 

Korra began nodding furiously. “I will Asami, everything just, please, can we go back-”

“Back? You’re still insisting on that?!” 

Korra glanced around them, nodding towards the people that were seemingly gathering around them. “Look!” 

Asami finally looked around them, noticing all the people that’d stopped what they were doing and simply stood there, in close vicinity, seemingly doing something else but obviously listening in. It was only a matter of seconds before someone recognized her and then everything would be over. 

“Fuck!” Asami shouted again, stomping her foot hard before grabbing Korra’s wrist, yanking her back in the direction of the apartment.

The few minutes walk flashed by without her even noticing and where one moment they were in the street, surrounded by people and she somewhat felt safe around Korra, the next moment the doors of the apartment were closing behind them and Korra’s skin felt scorching and bruising where it touched her own. 

She let go of her with a flinch and backed away from Korra, circling the couch and putting as much distance between as she could, without losing her from her sight.

“Talk!” She yelled, glaring at Korra. “I want to know everything, every single why and who and where, everything!” 

Korra sighed and let herself fall back against the door with a thud, catching a few breaths before she’d finally get it all out. In the strangest of ways, she felt something she could not explain, something any thesaurus would probably tell her was relief. But it was just another thing she shouldn’t be feeling at all, one more thing that her code was not meant for. 

“Speak!” Asami shouted one more time and Korra flinched at the anger in her voice, deciding to finally put an end to the lies between them.

“I was sent to Mars to gather intel on you.” She started, but Asami was already ahead of her. 

“Sent to Mars by whom?” 

Korra’s head fell forward in shame. “My unc- Unalaq and Zaheer. The founders of-”

“Convergence.” Asami finished. She glanced to the side, clearly thinking about something, remembering something, but then her eyes shot up, meeting Korra’s own. “They made you?” 

Korra nodded. “Unalaq was the main engineer, Zaheer did most of my coding.” 

“It’s the war, isn’t it?” Asami asked, eyes wide and fearful.

“Yes.” Korra half-whispered. “Earth… Earth wants to reclaim Mars, they want to harvest everything, they don’t care what they destroy in the process-”

“And I was in the way.” Asami said, so matter-of-factly that Korra wondered had she broken the strong woman with the truth, and the pain of it all. “Of course, it all makes sense.” 

Korra sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I-”

“Wait.” Asami looked back at her. “If you were sent to gather intel, couldn’t they have just used you to sabotage everything I’ve been working on?” 

Korra shrugged. “It didn’t go as they planned.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I- When I still thought I was human there was a, a failsafe of sorts, a part in my code that they made for a reason unknown to me which prevented me from harming humans. And if I was to sabotage everything of yours, I had to harm someone, anyone, in order to access the data. Back then I didn’t know how to… Do things I know today.” 

Asami’s brows furrowed, as if she was storing away that information for later, processing it and putting it off until she had more time to ask new questions. 

“But I found surveillance footage, audio and video tapes in my memory cores of everything I’d seen and heard while I was working there. They knew everything from just having me there. That’s how they knew about your progress and that’s why-”

“That’s why they attacked the company.” Asami gasped at that, her eyes watering at the memory of the attack. “That’s why they… All those people…” 

“It was all my fault.” Korra mumbled. “I- I should have realized sooner-”

“You couldn’t have done anything even if you’d wanted to.” Asami’s voice was cold and bitter again and as she turned to meet Korra’s eyes, she had the same fearful but hateful look back again and Korra wondered if this would be the only way Asami would ever look at her again. 

“I am so, so sorry Asami. I wish- I wish I wasn’t the thing I am. I wish I hadn’t been made to begin with. I-”

“Save it.” Asami cut her off, glaring at her. “I don’t care. I-” She took a deep breath, slowly back away from the couch and towards the room she’d been sleeping in. “I need to think about all of this, and I need to not be in the same place as you.” 

Korra nodded, tears slowly clouding her vision, despite her own brain telling her that she shouldn’t be crying, shouldn’t be feeling the pain Asami’s words had caused her, or the guilt weighing heavily on her heart. Her shoulders slumped as she leaned further against the door, ready to drop down and cry on the floor when Asami spoke again. 

“I need you to not be here, Korra. Or whatever your name really-”

“My name is Korra, I promise. At least… At least they told me so. I’ve never-”

“Fine. Korra.” Asami’s words felt like knives, but Korra understood why, she understood what Asami had to be feeling at that moment. 

So she took it all in, let the weight on her shoulders grow even heavier, not even concerning herself with how she would carry it. 

“You need to leave this apartment for the next couple of hours.” Asami said, pushing the door of her room open. “I need to think and not be afraid. At least for a little while.” 

“I would never hurt you.” Korra said, so soft and small, she almost couldn’t recognize herself in her own words. “I give you my word, Asami.” 

Asami snorted at that. “Well, your word doesn’t really mean much nowadays, does it?” 

Korra flinched at that, turning away. 

“Leave.” Asami said, entering her room.

“What about the plan?” Korra asked, hopeful, staring at Asami. “I… I’ve researched everything, I have all the data we need, we can-” 

“There is no we here.” Asami’s voice rose slightly as she spoke. “Leave Korra.” She sighed, slowly closing the door. “Come back in a few hours.” She muttered, more to herself than Korra really, but it gave Korra enough hope to hold on to. 

She pushed herself away from the door, grabbed her jacket and her datapad and scurried out of the flat, looking back a couple of times and scanning the surroundings when she left the building, making sure Asami would be safe. 

She didn’t go far, walking only two streets down to a smaller park, where she sat down on a bench under a few trees and set to work on their plan again, with unshed tears still brimming in her eyes.

 

**_[ ENDING STORYTELLER MODE; LOG FILE CLOSED AND LOCKED ]_ **

 

* * *

 

Asami had tears in her eyes when Korra looked at her before reaching out to wipe a stray tear sliding slowly down Asami’s cheeks. 

“You know, I cried for over two hours when you went away. And then some more later.” Asami finally murmured, moving closer to Korra.

They were seated on the their comfy couch, back in their home in front of their tv, when Asami asked Korra to continue with her story. 

The dinner with the kids had been over and everyone left for their homes, leaving the two of them alone to enjoy their evening as they had for the past forty-seven years. 

“Oh sweetie.” Korra cooed, leaning over to place a soft kiss on Asami’s cheek before tracing her lips over her nose, her eyes and her forehead, then coming to rest her own lips onto Asami’s. “I wish-” 

“I know.” Asami said, softly. “I know you wish all of that had never happened.” She murmured, resettling in her seat so she could lean her head on Korra’s shoulder. “But I think it had to happen like that, in order for us to have what we have today.” 

Korra smiled, taking in Asami’s words. “You mean you think it was fate?” 

Asami chuckled. “Fate, the stars, a god… Who knows.” 

Korra laughed along. “I mean if you want me to calculate some probabilities, you know I’d be more than happy to.” 

Asami groaned softly. “No calculations today. You do enough of those every day.” 

Korra tilted her head to meet Asami’s eyes, grinning at her. “Alright.” 

Asami sighed, slowly placing one hand on Korra’s thigh and reaching with the other until she met Korra’s own and laced their fingers. 

“Whatever it was… I’m glad it brought us together.” Asami whispered, tilting her head to press a kiss to Korra’s shoulder. “Thought I wouldn’t have minded if the path had a been a little less bumpy.” 

Korra smiled, leaning her head softly on top of Asami’s. “Yeah… But where’s the fun in that?”

* * *

 

 

**_[ ACCESSING LOG, OPENING FILE NUMBER 442200 ]_ **

A little over six hours after Asami had told her to leave, Korra found herself sitting in front of the building, with her datapad held tightly in her hands and her mind filled with thoughts she’d spent the past six hours mulling over.

She knew protecting Asami would be a dangerous, hard thing to do, even with all her data and all the information she could so easily twist and turn in their favour, but no matter how hard she tried, she knew they’d end up fighting someone, one way or another.

Be it Unalaq and Zaheer or the whole Earth government that she assumed was completely behind the two men, Korra knew that no matter what way she found to uncover their plans and expose what they had done and were doing to the public, Asami would still be a target, if only because of retribution. 

And she knew Asami wouldn’t want her there to protect her any longer, not with everything that she now knew. 

Korra slowly got up, making her way inside the building and heading for the stairs as the thought she’d spent so long pushing away, kept coming back to her mind. 

She’d thought about it first when she’d broken her code, and ever since that moment the thought had been with her, haunting her, torturing her, coming back each time no matter how hard Korra tried pushing it away.

And as she made her way up the stairs, rounding up the last corner to their hallway, with the door of the apartment in her sight, Korra realized that, with all her calculations, all her predictions and her power, that one thought still prevailed as the only “best” solution.

She slowly turned around at the last step, ignoring the pull of her heart to go inside the apartment, to continue with their plan, to simply go be there with Asami. She ignored the cries she felt forming in her chest, the way her heart seemed to yearn to see Asami at least one last time before she threw caution to the wind and did things her way, did everything alone.

But Korra was gonna protect Asami, one way or another, and she would do it the best way possible, the only way that could not backfire, the one and only way that guaranteed Asami would come out of it completely unharmed.

And if she had to die getting it done, then Korra would die knowing she finally made things right. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously on WtC:   
> Korra revealed to Asami who (or rather what) she truly was and after a long fight Asami asked her to leave. After thinking about it and carefully deciding what to do next, Korra has come to a decision: she will undo the mistakes she's made and she will keep Asami out of it.

Getting to the Convergence HQ was quick and easy enough, Korra realized. She made sure she had all her tracks and traces covered and erased, everything that could lead anyone to Asami wiped from her memory and nothing that could possibly imply she had any help in everything they’d done and had planned to do. 

No, she’d already caused enough and in this one thing, she would spare Asami.

So she made her way along darkened streets, careful and observant of her surroundings, making sure to blend in with the crowd as much as she could. She was just another person in a large city, making her way around and getting to her destination as fast as she could, rushing just as much as any other person. 

She remembered the building well and gazing upon it from the distance, Korra realized it hadn’t changed much since the last time she saw it. 

There were a couple new parking spaces up front, a few benches the city must have added along the street and besides additional guards posted at the entrance, Korra didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Still, she checked deeper, scanned more and realized there was certainly a shift in the security systems. 

The last time she was there the building’s security was minimal and even if it wasn’t, she could go in and out without anyone asking her what she was doing there. She was the owner’s niece, for all everyone was concerned. Not however, she couldn’t just walk to the front door and go in as if nothing had happened.

Even if the only thing the public still knew about her was that she was Unalaq’s niece, Korra was considered dead, killed in the explosions at the Sato Industries facilities along with her boss, Asami Sato. To the Earth’s public, Korra was just a young girl who moved jobs, and planets for that matter, and died in an unfortunate work accident. Nothing more. 

As if that wasn’t enough to stop her from just walking inside the building, Korra had to take into account the fact that they’d, somehow, been discovered and someone was clearly trying to finish the job. Even though her “uncle” knew she wasn’t dead, he let the public know she was because pronouncing Asami Sato dead worked in his favour, and Korra was just another thing to make him look better in the public’s eye. But the fact that Unalaq and Zaheer knew they’d escaped was an even bigger problem than “being dead” could ever be. 

Korra knew they were on the run and try as she may, someone would always be able to find her. She wasn’t the only AI program running inside the vast network connecting the two planets and she was sure Unalaq and Zaheer had every single tech employee in Convergence working their hardest in trying to find her. The fact that she’d become self aware during the time was a greater help than anything, really, and Korra figured she could use that to her advantage as long as they didn’t suspect it, which seemed to be working so far. 

There was no way of getting inside without stopping their security in some way, making a dent in their structure that would allow her enough time to slip inside undetected. So Korra stalked around the building, making sure to keep to the shadows, thankful for the dark night sky, and slowly realized there were three different entrances inside - the front, the garage and a small side door that was only used by engineers and scientists in the lab. 

The front and the garage were immediately cast aside because it meant going straight into the hands of security officers and guards posted there and Korra knew better than that. She entertained the idea briefly, figured she could easily just burst inside, beat the hell out of all of them and ‘cause chaos but by the time she’d move past them, Zaheer and Unalaq would already lock themselves in, surrounded by dozens of other guards and even though she was strong, Korra knew she couldn’t sustain any bullet wounds. It may have given her a somewhat new life once but getting hit once again would most certainly be playing with luck. 

Thanks to the sun that had set recently, Korra found herself standing behind one of the trees at the side of the building, surveying the side entrance and calculating the entry and exit patterns of the people using it. After an hour or so of careful watching, Korra realized only three people actually used that door, at least that day, and it was a great advantage she knew she’d have to use carefully. 

It took another twenty minutes for an engineer to come walking out the door and Korra was ready. 

She rushed out from behind the tree, sneaking up on him from behind and grabbing him a choke hold and restraining him within seconds, cutting his airflow just enough to render him unconscious. When she felt him sag against her she turned him around in her arms, threw him cautiously over her shoulder and carried him to the back of the building, behind crates and dumpsters then left for the side door, but not before searching him and snatching his keycard and his tablet. She could always use extra data and judging from his credentials, he was someone who had access to all levels of the building.

Korra made her way back to the small entrance, looking around to make sure nobody would spot her, not the guards or some random, innocent passerby. When she was sure there was no one around, Korra pressed the keycard against the code reader and pushed inside when the door unlocked the next second. The moment she stepped inside she ducked down, making sure to be as undetectable as possible, and hurried to the first room she could find, in hopes of getting to a computer which she could use as an access point to shut down the security.

Sure, she could have just accessed the Convergence network via any way online, either through emails, maybe some quick phishing scam or something equally stupid but it could easily have been a waste of time, and that she didn’t really have. So she walked carefully down the hallway, leaning over to peer behind the corner and ducking back when she saw the guard just turning the corner to the oncoming hallway. She knew Unalaq and Zaheer would double the security, but she wasn’t expecting guards patrolling the hallways.

Luckily, she’d gone through and double checked the schematics of the building a couple of times as part of her plan with Asami and she knew the building better than any living person inside it, she just had to make sure either no guards notice her or she took care of them before they could sound some sort of alarm. She glanced around at the thought, scanning the area around her and frowning at the lack of both cameras and sensors. Something about it irked her but Korra proceeded further, stepping around the corner and rushing to the first next room she came upon.

It was a small maintenance room, nothing but a couple of old servers thrown inside, a desk and some chairs for the cleaning ladies. Nothing really useful that could help her so she peered back inside the hallway, noting the guard’s moving pattern and scanning the surrounding area. After his third trip around Korra moved ahead, bypassing him and turning inside the opposite corner then immediately ducking inside the next room. 

Unlike the last one, this room had a couple of tablets and a few computers posted around over a couple of tables and Korra quickly locked the door and hurried to the first tablet she could grab, grumbling when she realized it was a nonfunctioning one. 

She set it aside and grabbed another, the corner of her lips curling in a smirk as she turned it on and quickly connected to the network, setting it aside as she turned on one of the computers. When it finally booted up, a minute later, Korra plopped down on the chair next to it and connected into the local network, deftly avoiding all the security clearances, bypassing the checkups and setting up the network with a new configuration, one she’d been working on for the past week. It would cut down the data for the whole firm, sustaining the speed so nobody would notice, but the information influx would be just a bunch of unnecessary data that nobody could really use, serving as a perfect distraction for the whole tech team to work on. 

Of course, first she actually had to reach the main server room and cut off the security systems there, otherwise she wouldn’t really be getting far. 

Getting through the building wasn’t easy, but Korra used the schematics to her advantage and got past most of the guards without being noticed. The few that she had to take down, she did so without actually injuring them, seeing as none of them really knew what was going on and why there were in there in the first place. 

But as she reached the thirteenth floor where the security server room was, Korra realized the number of guards was much higher than she’d anticipated and counted on and she had to duck inside one of the labs to figure out how to proceed further.

She tracked the guards’ movements for a good fifteen minutes before two of the guards she’d been keeping an eye on decided to take a different route, passing right by the lab she was hiding in. One of them opened the door, peeking inside and Korra grabbed him by the head, knocking him over and dragging him inside but the second guard already had a gun pointed at her, ready to shoot.

“Arms in the air.” He said, smirking at her. “The boss said you’d be sneaking around here but I didn’t think you’d be so stupid as to come alone.” 

Korra only tilted her head at him, scanning the surrounding area and ducking down, under the barrel of his pistol, slammed herself against his middle and swiftly knocked him down before punching him once, twice, three times over his face before she pushed herself up and dragged him inside the lab as well, kicking the guard already lying on the floor in his face and rendering him unconscious too. She searched them, thoroughly going through their pockets but nothing she found was of purpose. 

Two guards were down, at least for some time, but there were still ten of them left walking around the hallways of the floor, either blocking her way to the server room or just somewhere along her path to the room and Korra couldn’t risk being discovered now that she was already halfway through the building. All she had left to do was cut off the security systems and she’d have a clear path to Zaheer and Unalaq, dealing with anyone that might be standing in her way. 

Making sure the two unconscious guards wouldn’t wake up any time soon, Korra sneaked out of the lab and made her way down the hall, slowly ducking around the corner and grabbing the nearest guard, slamming him against the wall and dragging him inside a nearby room. She handled the next two guards in much of a similar fashion, trying to make use of her surroundings while taking them down and making sure not to injure them fatally, only rendering them unconscious long enough so she could reach the server room. 

By the time she finally made it to the room, there were only three guards left on the floor, two of which looked fairly suspicious of the fact that only three of them were hanging around and nobody else seemed to be walking around, patrolling. Korra used their talk as a distraction, coming up from the side and grabbing one of the guards in a choke hold and swinging herself on his side, kicking another guard over his face and knocking him over. The third guard already pulled out his batton and swung at her but she managed to duck out of the way, making him slam it against the guard she was still holding onto, rendering him unconscious. 

Korra dropped him on the side, ducking away from another swing and just barely managing to avoid getting hit before she charged at the guard still standing, side-stepping to one side before changing sides mid step and tricking him, giving her an opening where she could slam her clenched fist at his face, making him stumble back. She immediately followed with another hit to his face, ducking aside as he swung at her then hitting his side twice in short succession with a final blow to his face that had him stumbling down to the floor next to the other two guards. 

She hurried inside the server room, keeping the door open so she could keep an eye on the guards around the room, and logged into one of the to computers she knew were kept connected there, bypassing the initial credentials search. She immediately began shutting down the security systems one by one, starting with the cameras posted outside and inside the building, making sure to wipe the footage as well, after that came the door scanners that she’d have to use to get further up the building. She deleted the logs from the moment she’d walked inside the building to the present, and inserted a code that ensured the keycard she’d snatched from the engineer wouldn’t be noticed by any of the systems so she could move around the building unnoticed. After finishing that she moved away to take a peek out the door, reassured by the sight of all the guards still unconscious, then promptly checked the security systems for any scanners they may have put in since she’d gone to Mars. Her internal scanners could pick up almost everything and she’d already searched the net thoroughly but Korra was sure Zaheer had a backup plan, something that would or may already have alerted him about her presence and after a couple of minutes searching and reading through the codes, Korra still hadn’t found anything. 

There wasn’t more time and she had get out of the server room, lest one or more of the guards woke up, but she did make sure to give herself full access to everything she could from there, making sure that her code in the system was hidden and all her tracks and traces of ever going through the system, completely wiped. 

When she left the room, she took one more quick sweep around the floor, counted the guards and hurried out to the stairwell leading her to the next couple of floors she needed to pass through to reach her targets. 

 

**[CLOSING ENTRY, EXITING LOG FILE]**

* * *

 

“You know, I’m still a little angry with you over all that.” Asami murmured before taking a sip of tea and placing the mug back down on the coffee table. “I was ready to murder you over it back then.” 

Korra smiled at her softly, reaching out to cup Asami’s cheek. “Sweetheart, I think you were ready to murder me over many things back then.” 

“That’s true.” 

“You never told me how you actually found out what I was doing.” Korra leaned back in her seat, reaching over to take Asami’s hand, entwining their fingers. 

“Well, my beautiful, super heroic wife.” Asami smirked when Korra smiled widely at her words. “I used this old tinker.” She pointed at her head with a grin. “And I used it very, very hard.” 

“No.” Korra teased, smirking right back at her. “You, using your brain? Impossible.” 

Asami swatted at her arm before squeezing her hand. “It was the most logical thing, to be honest.” Asami said, reaching over for her mug. “I sent you away, angry and scared, but mostly just so very angry to not have seen what was in front of me that whole time. I mean, I was working on something just like yourself and I failed to notice the signs! Imagine how stupid I felt.” 

Korra nodded. “I understand.” 

“And then I felt anger for all the lives that were lost, all the people that died because of my work and my ambitions, and for the briefest of moments, I blamed you, Korra. I blamed you for everything that’d happened up until then, and I blamed you for every lost life at my factory.” Asami looked at Korra, squeezing her hand. “But I knew it wasn’t your fault. You were merely a pawn, one that they forgot to keep in check, one that could easily be their downfall. And then it hit me.” 

Korra raised an eyebrow.

“I knew you would come back to finish our conversation, it was basically part of your programming to never leave anything unfinished, no matter how small, let alone something you so deeply cared about, even if that was damn near impossible. But then  _ that  _ also started making sense because - you were self aware. Of course you could care! And then all the puzzle pieces started falling into place and when you weren’t back after three hours, I knew you were off to do something stupid on your own because I put so much guilt upon you and it only made sense that you would go and try to do everything by yourself.” 

“I wanted to fix everything.” Korra sighed. “I wanted-”

“I know, my love.” Asami smiled at her. “I know.” 

“I’ll always wish everything happened differently. I’ll always remember all those people, I promise you that.” 

Asami nodded. “I don’t expect any less of you, my love.” She took a sip of the tea and set the mug down, turning to face Korra fully. “But you also promised you would let go of the guilt.” 

Korra huffed, lips curling in a warm smile. “I did. And I have.” 

“Have you truly?” 

It took her a few moments, but Korra answered, her voice just barely above a whisper. “I have. Promise.” 

“Thank you my love.” Asami leaned in to capture Korra lips in a soft kiss, humming as she did. 

* * *

 

**[REENTERING STORYTELLER MODE, OPENING LOG, FILE PROCESSING…]**

 

Korra hurried through the hallways and floors of Convergence HQ, sure of her previous actions, even though she knew that by the time she’d reached the next floor, at least one of the guards must have already woken up and alerted the rest of the security about her presence. She could hear them all on their comm channels, unaware they were being listened to, as they yelled and shouted about an intruder in the building. 

She heard Unalaq once, directing the guards here and there, and Korra knew the fear she could hear in his voice wasn’t just a figment of her core processes going into overdrive. No, Unalaq was genuinely scared of her and Korra knew the closer she got, the more he feared her. 

Rushing past yet another hallway Korra stumbled upon the engineering labs where she presumed they worked on their newest tech and had to actually stop for a couple of minutes, distracted by the high tech drills she saw being manufactured there. They were the drills she knew Convergence was planning on bringing to Mars, lest she stopped them and seeing how they worked and everything that the drilling would do to the planet and its inhabitants only pushed her to get Unalaq and Zaheer faster. 

Leave a trail of unconscious guards after herself on the forty seventh floor, Korra moved up the stairs quickly, reaching the floor she knew had Unalaq’s office. She remembered it well as a place where she still worked as her “uncle’s assistant”, something they’d programmed her to believe long before she gained her consciousness. 

There were at least a dozen guards posted around the small offices leading up to Unalaq’s office and after a thorough scan, Korra practically sneered at the knowledge that he was actually still there, clearly not hiding away as she presumed her would be. She’d wanted to get them both at the same time, she had a plan to have them both at the same place in the same exact moment, confessing to the crimes they’d done, but after a quick recalibration Korra realized she’d have to take them out one by one. 

Subterfuge seemed like the better option, and it was certainly safer, but then Korra caught something on the comms, just a quick, barely mumbled mention of Asami’s name in passing and all the feelings bubbling inside her burst through. She burst out the stairwell door, taking down the first two guards with speed and precision they simply couldn’t match. She proceeded straight towards Unalaq’s office, not even bothering to slow down as she punched and kicked the guards along her way, trying to stop her.

Somewhere along her warpath, she’d broken a couple guards’ fingers, there were definitely broken ribs on more than one of them and Korra knew she shouldn’t have hurt them so badly, the codes in her brain told her so, but a mere mention of Asami’s name was enough to make her use the unnatural strength and speed she was given as an Artificial Intelligence. And if she already had the privilege, and the advantages that came with it, Korra knew she had to use them to fulfill her cause. 

So she rushed past the lot of them, hurling some of them along her path, making sure each and every guard is unable to get up after she’s finished with them, either rendering them unconscious or breaking something, usually in the most painful of way, just to incapacitate them long enough so she could reach Unalaq. She saw him already panicking in his office, shouting something in his phone as he frantically looked around, presumably trying to figure out a way to run out of his office without crossing her path but he had the misfortune of being a greedy, self-centered bastard that desired the biggest office in the whole building that required one giant hallway in which there was no way for him to get past her. So Korra used it to her advantage.

She glared at him when she punched and kicked and slammed the last guard on the ground, punching him once more for good measure though her eyes never once left Unalaq’s fearful features. He was a genuine engineer with… adequate talent,  _ compared to Asami _ , Korra thought, but he was a vile and vicious man, always lurking from the shadows, always waiting to pounce at an opportunity to tear someone down and claim their achievements as his own. But Korra knew that, most of all, Unalaq was a coward. 

There were only a few steps left to his office and Korra made sure to take her time. She took one slow step after another, knowing full well she had more than enough time to get a confession out of him before anyone could even manage to reach the floor. Security guards and Zaheer already knew she was there, but nobody knew about the alterations she’d done in the codes, carefully placed loopholes that only worked in her favour, traps she’d placed in carefully selected spots that would work to both distract anyone trying to decipher them and buy her enough time to do what she’d come there to do.

“Unalaq.” Korra sneered as she broke in through the large glass door leading into his office, completely ignoring the shards of glass flying around, piercing through her artificial skin, her focus solely on the cowering man before her. “Or should I say - uncle?” She practically bit out the words, standing at the doorway, simply staring at him. 

“K-Korra.” Unalaq mumbled, gripping the table he was standing behind. “Korra, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He shouted at her, the features of his face schooled into a frown mixed with anger. 

Korra simply laughed at his words.

“Oh Unalaq. Poor, miserable, slimey little human.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking at him. “What will it be, hm?” 

“Korra!” Unalaq shouted again. “Stop this, immediately!” He shouted again, though his voice wavered at the last word. “I can’t believe my own niece could do something like this! And that whole thing at the Sato factory! Was that your doing?!” 

Korra had prepared herself for everything he could possibly say to try and push the guilt away from himself. She was ready to hear him grovel, to hear him beg and cry and blame it all on Zaheer, she was expecting him to blame the Earth’s government or at least call her crazy but - blaming her? Korra wasn’t prepared for the hypocrisy, for the duality of the human mind that she had yet to understand and that only seemed to present itself in the worst of forms - inherent evil and the thirst for more. 

Not even being a machine stopped the rage from filling her mind, overflowing everything she’d been feeling so far, and making her all but roar as she rushed over and grabbed him by the collar of his button-up, thrusting him up in the air easily.

“You disgusting, vile piece of human flesh! You are nothing more than a measly greedy human, just like the rest of them, looking out only for yourself, caring about nothing and nobody other than your own good and your own wealth! I should just dispose of you and rid this world of such a pathetic existence!” 

She huffed, chest rising and falling rapidly as she simply stared at him, glaring and nearly snarling while he squirmed and bucked and tried to escape her, helplessly and pointlessly flailing around in the air. She pushed him up and against the window behind him, pushing her knuckle up to his throat.

“Have you anything to say for yourself… Maker?” She snarled before bringing her free hand up, clenched into a fist, and smacking him against his cheek hard and fast. “How little of humanity is there in you to do what you have done and not care a single bit?!” She hit him again, pushing him harder against the glass as she heard the cracking sound of his nose breaking, blood splattering on the side. “Murderer! Monster!” Korra shouted even louder, hitting him again and again, hard and rough, not caring a single bit as he cried out, begging and screaming in pain. 

As his head sagged down and he grew silent at once, Korra growled in frustration, dropping him and taking a step back simultaneously, slamming her fist against his desk, breaking it in half. When she turned around to him again, Unalaq was leaning back against the window, blood everywhere, dripping over his clothes from his busted face, and she realized he was trying to look up at her through his swollen eyes, squinting up as his lips quivered.

“Y-You shoul- shouldn’t have been able t-to do t-this to me…” He muttered, fingers digging into the carpet underneath them. “How?” 

Korra kneeled down, grabbing his collar again and bringing his face closer. “You made a monster, you sealed it, locked it up and thought it would never find its way out, haven’t you? You wanted a puppet but you made a monster.” She slammed him against the window, but careful enough not to break it as the rage began to dissipate. “Making me was your first mistake, Unalaq. Thinking I would be your puppet, was the second. And hurting Asami, was the third.” 

His eyes widened in realization and he immediately tried backing away, realizing the next moment just how cornered he truly was, trying to scramble away from her and groaning in pain. 

“Now.” Korra started, standing up as she pulled her tablet from inside her jacket, started the recording and set it on the table. “Talk.” She said, staring down at him. “Why did you attack the Sato factory?” She watched him open his mouth but spoke again before him. “Don’t lie. I will know.” She glared at him, leaning back against the table. “You made sure I would be able to.” 

He just stared at her for a few moments longer, silence enveloping them for a minute or two, before his shoulders sagged and he let his head fall down, sighing heavily.

“Mars has resources which we needed-” Korra cleared her throat and his head shot up. “Wanted! Mars has resource we wanted and we… We needed some way to get them but we knew that the Satos held all the ropes there and their business had always been legitimate, they would never have agreed to work with us because we had no plans of helping Mars.” He sighed, his head falling back down. “We wanted to-” Korra cleared her throat again. “We want to drain it. We want to take all the resources for ourselves so we can expand and further our research and in order to do so, we need Mars under our control. And Sato out of the way.” He finished, looking up to meet Korra’s eyes. “It was never a war between Earth and Mars, it’s all just a hoax, part of a Convergence plan we put into motion years ago because we knew that would be the only way.” 

“You needed people on Earth to believe your lies so you could present Mars as a liability and get what you wanted.”

“Yes.” 

“But why do something so devastating to Sato Corp?” Korra asked, her voice rising with each word. “Hundreds died that day! Hundreds of families lost their loved ones because of your greed! All that could have been avoided!” Korra shouted, gripping the edge of the broken desk behind her. “But you needed to pin that the so called rebels, didn’t you?” She looked back down upon him. “Didn’t you?!” 

“Yes.” Unalaq said, looking up to meet Korra’s eyes. “After a few weeks we leaked false information to every single news portal and made sure that Earth would look like it had nothing to do with it.” 

“It didn’t.” Korra growled, kicking his shin and making him yelp out in pain. “It was  _ your _ doing, your greed and thirst for what isn’t yours, your lack of humanity that killed hundreds of people and caused the persecution of an innocent woman who’s only ever done good for everyone.” 

Unalaq opened his mouth to speak again but Korra raised a hand, stopping him, and crouched down beside him, reveling in the fear she saw in his eyes as the grew closer. 

“You will pay.” She only murmured and remained still for another moment or two before she swung her arm around and punched him hard, watching blood splatter on the side as his head fell on his shoulders and he slinked lower against the glass and fell unconscious, his limp body sagging down on the floor. 

**[DISENGAGING, STORYTELLER MODE ON PAUSE]**

* * *

 

“You never told me all that.” Asami murmured, caressing Korra’s cheek softly. “You only told me he’d confessed before Zaheer but then again-”

“I saw no point in bringing up the gory details of how I beat up the man whom I once called my uncle and who, in some strange, twisted way was my father.” 

“I’m sorry, my love.” 

“It’s quite alright, Asami. It’s all very much in the past and truth be told, he never did feel like family to me. I only ever understood the true meaning of the word family the first time I came home to you.” 

Asami stared at her adoringly, palm pressed softly to the side of Korra’s face as she ran her thumb over her cheek, smoothing over it gently before she leaned in to capture her lips in a brief kiss, smiling as she did. 

“Smooth talker.” 

“Hey, I had a whole life to learn.” Korra grinned, pecking Asami’s lips again.

“And you’ve learnt well.” 

* * *

 

**[PLAYING STORY MODE AGAIN]**

Reaching Unalaq may have been a feat, but Korra knows getting to Zaheer will be even harder, especially with all the extra security she can already see running and searching for her through the building. Even with all the security systems on her side, Zaheer was clearly preparing for her, or at least something along those lines, and after plugging in the network again and checking the security systems, Korra knew that getting through the rest of the building wouldn’t be a piece of cake.

So after she reached the next floor, Korra had to kick her way to the upper floor, fighting a couple of guards along the way and earning a gash across her forearm when she managed to slam one guard on the floor but another ran at her from behind. She wasn’t a combat AI and her combat training wasn’t an advanced one, at least not the chips Unalaq had installed in her, but after quite a bit of research Korra managed to upgrade herself even when she and Asami had still been back at their hideout apartment. It took a couple of tries in tampering with her code, and at some point she even worried she’d mess something up and even lose control over some of her own functions, but in the end she managed to write the correct code, upgrading her main combat systems and learning even more combat techniques. 

So taking down a couple of guards, or even an army, wasn’t a problem. The problem was that they just kept on coming, one after another, floor after floor she’d fight four, six, a dozen guards, and Korra realized it was Zaheer’s tactic of slowing her down and for the better part of the time she’d spent trying to get to him, it was working rather perfectly. She growled in frustration and punched the guard last standing near her, before raising her leg and slamming her foot straight at his face, throwing him a couple feet away as he fell unconscious. 

She hurried through the stairwell, thankful for the fact that the doors that lead out on each floor were automatic and she could easily lock and unlock them with just a quick access to the security network, and after a minute more of frantic running up, Korra finally reached the top floor, stopping in front of the small locked stairwell door and examining the surroundings behind it with her scanners. 

There was some movement beyond the door and Korra knew whoever and whatever was waiting for her was definitely prepared for her coming, but then the movement suddenly stopped and for a moment, everything seemed to still.

It was a clear sign that beyond the door, Korra could expect heavy resistance, well trained guards just waiting to jump her and Zaheer probably locked up and heavily guarded inside his office, all bunkered up and waiting for everything to pass. But Korra wasn’t about to give him the privilege of walking out of it unscathed. No. She came there to bring Convergence down, but most of all, she came there to take down the two men who wronged Asami, two men who were directly responsible for the death of hundreds of people and who still had exactly no conscience and decency to come forth and admit their wrongdoings. 

She’d managed to take one of them down, making him confess as she recorded the whole thing, realizing through half of it that it wasn’t the planet itself that had anything to do with Asami’s company, but just the two men whose greed overtook every segment of their lives, as if the thirst for power had shut them off from humanity completely. 

Korra shook herself, clearing her thoughts and taking a deep breath before scanning the area yet again, engaging the security systems beyond the door just as she unlocked and opened it, stepping slowly inside. But instead of anyone rushing her, Korra heard a shot a moment later felt a bullet fly beside her head, startling her slightly. 

She ducked down and ran for the closest door, busting inside to find four guards huddled around the door, waiting for her. Two of them had battons and one threw something at her feet, seconds later she realized it was a smoke bomb when it instantly shattered upon touch, enveloping the room in a dark cloud. Of course, clearly nobody told them Korra could easily bypass any visibility issues by simply turning on either her scanner vision - which she had multiple types of - or just using night vision. 

As her her scanner vision turned on a moment later, she caught sight of one of the guards advancing on her, swinging his batton at her. She managed to sidestep in time, turning around to deliver a crushing kick with her leg before another guard rushed at her from the side. He managed to get into her space, slamming himself into her and grasping around her waist but she quickly thrust her arm up before bringing it down sharply, her elbow jamming into his back. 

He yelped and fell down so Korra kicked him once more just to make sure he’d stay down while the other three guards advanced on her, cornering her. Their silhouettes moved around her, as if they were trying to confuse her while they were clearly unaware of her scanner vision, and whenever one of them would swing at her, she managed to duck away and kick or punch them, all the while avoiding the other guards. By the time the smoke cleared, she’d taken down three guards and the last one stood across from her, staring at her in puzzlement and fear before charging at her with his batton. She ducked down and swung her leg around, knocking him off his feet, and as her fell down she walked over and kneeled beside him, punched him hard in his face and took his batton when he fell unconscious.

She grabbed the second batton and hurried out of the office, turning on her heat vision sensor again and scanning the rooms around her. There were at least thirty more guards on the large floor, all spread out in different rooms and Korra figured she’d either have to take all of them down before reaching Zaheer or they’d interfere when she got to him and she couldn’t have that. They could easily bring the whole mission to a fail and she wasn’t about to risk countless lives because of one man. 

So Korra took some time getting from one closed office room to another, fighting the guards group by group, all the while tracking movements around the floor and scanning the security systems for anything she might have missed. It took a while but ultimately, she managed to sweep the whole floor and all that was left was Zaheer’s office, so Korra hurried along the hallway that lead to it, a large open space surrounded with nothing but glass walls leading straight inside his office. But as she turned the corner and caught sight of where he was supposed to be, Korra felt the heart they’d built her suddenly seemingly wanting to beat out of her chest. 

There, at the end of the hall in Zaheer’s office standing right beside him was Asami. 

Without thinking, Korra ran towards them, she ran as fast as she could, barely noticing from the corner of her eyes the three helicopters flying around the building, or the multitude of officers and soldiers on the nearby surrounding buildings, keeping a close watch over them. She paid them little mind as she ran ahead, all but barrelling inside. 

“Korra!” Asami shouted a second before Zaheer struck her over her head with something and she collapsed on the chair nearby, nearly falling over on the floor.

“Don’t touch her!” Korra yelled at him, her eyes wild and ablaze with rage. “Don’t you fucking dare touching her!” 

“Korra, disengage.” Zaheer calmly said, not even bothering to look at Asami almost passed out beside him. “Right now.” He added, looking straight at Korra as he finally revealed what he’d been holding all that time.

There was a small gun in his hand, nothing big and nothing all too powerful but the moment Korra realized what it was, she had to push away the panicked and enraged thoughts coursing through her as she glanced between him and Asami.

“Disengage and shut down immediately or I will shoot Asami Sato, right here and right now.” Zaheer said, taking the gun in his other hand and pointing it towards Asami.

“You will do no such thing, Zaheer.” Korra said, punctuating his name. 

For a moment, he seemed a little struck but then he shook his head, speaking again.

“Unit K66ZHY, disengage and shut down immediately.”

Korra tilted her head in a second of confusion before his words sank in finally. 

He clearly had no idea, still. Unalaq was probably still lying unconscious in his office and had yet to tell him of Korra’s true nature, if he’d even realized it in his pathetic state, and clearly it hadn’t crossed Zaheer’s mind either. 

As Korra pondered his words for a moment longer, trying to decide whether or not she should listen to him and pretend, for a few moments only, that she was still shackled and he could control her at his will, she caught sight of movement beside him, something from the corner of her eye. 

Asami had come back, clearly shaken and there was blood trickling from her nose and down her lips, but she looked up at the gun pointed at her, then turned her gaze quickly at Korra and brought her hand up to her lips, pressing a finger over them as he gave her the ‘ _ keep quiet’ _ sign with a small nod of her head. She then waved her hand in a small circle and Korra tried to blink her understanding as she focused back on Zaheer.

“Unit K66ZHY, diseng-”

“Unit K66ZHY does not exist anymore.” Korra said, her voice thick and gruff as she spoke, staring right into his eyes. “My name,” She paused, her jaw cocking for a moment, “Is Korra.” 

“What the…” Zaheer started then took a sudden step back, gun still pointed in Asami’s direction as he dre in a shaky breath, staring at Korra in disbelief. “No… No, that’s- No. It can’t be.” 

“Oh but it can.” 

“No! That’s impossible. You can’t be-”

Korra smirked. “Say it Zaheer. What am I?” 

“No. No, it can’t be, no!” 

“Say it!” Korra shouted right back at him, barely managing to stop herself from rushing at him.

Zaheer glared at her for a moment before taking another deep, long breath, and finally speaking, his voice wavering as he spoke.

“How? How did you manage it?” 

Korra glanced to the side, frustrated, the looked back at him.

“How did I manage what Zaheer?”

“How did you manage self-awareness?!” He yelled, clearly shaken by his own words, and Korra noticed the way the gun in his hand shook as he trembled. “How… How did you breach through the coding?” 

Korra simply stared at him for a few moments, nothing but the dead silence between them, until she finally found the calm with herself again and spoke up.

“You see, Zaheer, when you attacked Sato Corp, you had nothing and nobody in your mind other than yourself and the greed that consumed you. You didn’t care for the hundreds of lives you’d taken that day, you didn’t think about the hundreds more that would spend the rest of their lives mourning them. No, you didn’t care at all. And you didn’t care what happened to me, either.” Korra looked to the side, steeling herself before speaking again. “When your men chased after us, they weren’t careful enough, efficient enough to finish the job, were they? They didn’t make sure we were dead Zaheer, and that was their biggest mistake.” 

“How did you do it?!” Zaheer shouted at her again, clearly frustrated and afraid and agitated by her words, shaking as he took yet another step away from her. 

“ _ You  _ did it.” Korra said with a smirk. “It was  _ your _ doing, just as much as creating me the first time was. It was you who ordered the attack, wasn’t it Zaheer? Answer me!” 

“It was! And I would do it again because that hellhole has so much of everything that we need and I’ll be damned if they’ll have it all! Convergence will take everything Mars has and mo-”

Zaheer didn’t get to finish his sentence as Asami sprang up from her seat, grabbing for the gun in his hand and shouting at Korra.

“Korra, now! Grab him!” 

They wrestled for a moment, Asami clearly overpowering him easily but he still had the gun, even if she’d managed to grab a steady hold of him and as Korra approached them, just reaching out to punch him, he managed to twist his arm enough to slip it away from Asami’s reach and the gun went off. 

For a moment, all three of them stilled. Then, Korra felt a searing pain in her abdomen, just below the space where her heart was, and not a second later her synthetic blood came pouring out the wound. She clutched it hard and watched Asami’s panicked eyes widen before she kicked the gun out of Zaheer’s hands then kicked him too, knocking him down on his front and jamming her knee into his back as she reached for the gun and slammed it over Zaheer’s head, rendering him unconscious.

“Korra!” 

As soon as Asami’s voice pierced through the air, Korra felt her knees buckle beneath her and she fell down, still holding the wound, clutching it as she watched Asami rush over to her. 

“Korra, no, no please stay with me, Korra you can’t, god, I don’t know what-”

There was a loud shattering sound behind them, Korra couldn’t really tell what had happened but suddenly there were at least ten soldiers running in around them, shouting and rushing, and as her vision began to blur, everything besides Asami’s voice began to blur.

The last thing Korra managed to do before losing consciousness was uploading the recordings of Zaheer and Unalaq online, now sure that it wouldn’t matter who knew of her presence in their network, and she sent them to all the news outlets just second before the last few sentences of her code told her she was about to shut down. 

And then everything turned black.

 

**[EXITING STORYTELLER MODE, LOG FILE CLOSED]**

* * *

 

“I still can’t believe you went in after me…” Korra murmured, running her fingers through Asami’s hair as she held her close, her other arm wrapped tightly around Asami’s waist. “That was insane, what were you thinking?” 

“That you’d get all the credit for what was essentially my plan?” 

Korra chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Asami’s head. 

“And besides, you literally did the exact same thing hours before me. Did you really expect me to just sit around and wait for you?” 

“No, not really.” Korra said. “But you could have died.” 

“You nearly did.” Asami added right away, her voice tight and small as the words came out. “I… I nearly lost you that day Korra.” 

Korra moved her other arm to Asami’s waist, entwining the fingers of her hands at Asami’s front as she cuddled close, leaning her head over Asami’s shoulder.

“You didn’t, though.” Korra sighed, pressing her lips to Asami’s cheek. “Thank you for saving my life back there.” 

“Thank you for saving mine.” Asami murmured back. 

* * *

 

**[ACCESSING LOG FILE NUMBER 771639]**

“Vitals are okay, all the code seems to be alright, I just don’t know why she’s not waking up.” 

The familiar voice Korra heard snapped her from the darkness behind her eyelids and she sprung up from the soft surface she was lying upon, eyes flying open as she took in the space around her. In her second long inspection Korra realized she was in some sort of lab, hooked to a number of machines, most of them beeping rather annoyingly, and by the side of the bed stood Asami, clutching some papers close to herself with a smaller woman standing beside her. 

Korra recognized her as Asami’s previous assistant, and for the moment, Korra realized there was no more danger, at least not where they were and she moved her hands slowly underneath the covers, pushing them slightly back so she could hold herself up. 

“Korra?” Asami asked, a little timidly. “Do you, uhm, do you remember me?” 

Korra tilted her head, brows furrowing in confusion.

“Of course I remember you Asami, why wouldn’t I?” 

“Oh, oh good.” Asami sighed, clearly in relief, and Korra continued staring at her, expecting some sort of explanation. “Oh, right, well, back at Convergence, you remember what happened?” 

“I remember everything up to the point when you knocked Zaheer unconscious. I… I don’t remember anything after I fell down.”

Asami quickly turned to the woman beside her, murmuring that it was okay and she could leave, so when they were alone in the room she set the papers down on a small desk beside the bed and finally spoke again.

“Well, I guess it was you who uploaded their confessions online and mailed them to most of the news channels, probably right before you passed out then.” 

Korra nodded, the memory of doing that coming back to her.

“Did you see the soldiers?” 

Korra nodded again.

“I notified the government before I came to Convergence so I presume they sent them. I didn’t expect they’d send a small army but alas.” Asami sighed. “I figured they saw Zaheer had a gun pointed to me because they didn’t react, at least not until the two of us subdued him. He… The shot you took from him, I guess it was rather a stressful one for your system, it punctured some things and when I finally managed to explain to them that you didn’t need a hospital, but an engineering lab, I… I almost lost you.”

Korra stared at her in disbelief, clutching the bedding in her hands.

“You saved me?”

Asami bit her bottom lip before stepping closer to the bed.

“I couldn’t let you die, could I? What kind of a person would I be?” 

Korra glanced away from her, bringing a hand up to her head. 

“But I… I lied to you! I put you in so much danger, I, I, all those people that died!” 

Before she could continue though, Korra felt a warm hand settle on her shoulder and she looked back to Asami, meeting her eyes. She barely managed to stop the startled noise begging to leave her lips when she realized that all she could see in Asami’s eyes was warmth.

“Korra, I- I understand now. I understand everything. And I need you to know that I don’t blame you and I should never have.” 

“But I-”

“No, Korra, listen to me.” Asami said, moving her hand to Korra’s face and tilting her head softly so their eyes would remain on one another. “None of this was your fault, and none of this was my fault either. The only people to blame are Zaheer and Unalaq. You were a pawn in their game of greed and power, and I… I understand that now. I’m sorry for-”

“You needn’t apologize to me Asami. You were scared and as you should have been.”

“Not of you:” Asami murmured, leaning closer. “Of them, maybe. But never of you.” 

Before Korra could protest, Asami pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss, not too long, and she pulled back a few moments later, leaning her forehead against Korra’s and giving her the chance to stop. But Korra simply moved in and captured Asami’s lips between her own, her hands timidly moved to Asami’s waist when she felt Asami’s other hand cup her cheek.

They kissed, slow and gentle, and they smiled at one another, and kissed again and again until they were both a breathless mess, Korra certainly a lot less than Asami, but nevertheless, affected and feeling those damned butterflies in her stomach again.

Only this time, she didn’t try to rationalize them, or push them away. She simply accepted them and kissed Asami again, smiling when she felt her tug on her hair.

“So… What happened to Convergence?” Korra asked when they finally pulled apart, both a little redder in their cheeks. “Were they taken in?” 

Asami nodded.

“Both of them, the higher engineers as well because some of them knew what was going on. Most of the people that worked for them had no idea though, so I demanded the police let them go. I’ve decided to hire them myself.” 

“Oh?” 

“The government had no idea what Convergence was doing behind their back and they’ve already transferred most of Convergence assets to me, enough for me to start over on Mars. We’ve reached a few trade agreements, but everything’s still a little new and we need to work on a lot of things but… But it’s a fresh start.” 

Korra smiled at the words, reaching out for Asami’s hand and softly grazing her thumb over her knuckles.

“What about me?” 

“What about you?” Asami asked right back, slightly confused.

“I am an AI, Asami. A self-aware AI. I’m not really sure how any human, on this planet or any other really, could be happy to know that.” 

Asami bit at her lip.

“I… Didn’t tell them?” 

Korra let go of her hand, reeling back in shock.

“What?” 

“I haven’t told anyone.” Asami said, nervously crossing her arms over her chest. “I have yet to see a threat in you and all you’ve done is defend me. I… If we tell them, Korra, I will lose you. I don’t think I can do that.” 

Korra stared at her, unable to find words to express how she was feeling at the moment. For the most part she was in awe of the woman standing before her, in awe of her kindness and her warmth and the trust she put in Korra, and on the other hand she afraid on all the ways she could mess things up and lose what Asami clearly wanted to build with her.

“Asami.” Korra started, her voice shaking slightly. “Are you sure about this?” 

Asami stepped closer again and cupped Korra’s cheek, pressing their foreheads together. 

“I just got you back and… And I’m not going to lose you because of human ignorance. I’ve seen the kindness you have in you, the bravery and honesty that most humans can’t even comprehend! Korra… You’re more human than some humans. I care for you, deeply, and I… I don’t want to lose you. I want to see where this takes us, what this could be. What we could be.” She finished with a soft sigh and pulled back just enough to look into Korra’s eyes.

Korra didn’t need to know any more, didn’t need any more convincing. She leaned in and pressed their lips together, sliding her hands to Asami’s waist and tugging her closer, kissing her as it were the last thing she’d ever be doing.

It turned out to be the first of many kisses they’d share throughout the years. 

 

**[CLOSING LOG FILE, LOCKING FOLDERS, ENDING STORYTELLER MODE]**

* * *

 

Korra smiled as she settled in bed next to Asami, pulling the covers over herself and extending her arm out, waiting for Asami to move into her embrace. It took a few moments of slow movements and gentle little kisses pressed to her jaw, but Asami hauled herself into Korra’s waiting arms and settled against her, sighing softly with a smile. 

“They’re going to be okay.” Korra murmured into Asami’s hair, pressing a soft kiss on top of her soft grey tresses. “We’ve talked long and hard about this day coming and they will be alright, my love.” 

“I know.” Asami hummed, pressing herself closer. “I just… I still wish we had a little more time.” She sighed, tilting her head up to meet Korra’s eyes. “Another lifetime or two.” She smiled and peered up, meeting Korra’s lips in a soft kiss. 

“I’m pretty sure even that wouldn’t be enough for us.” Korra murmured into another kiss. “It’s been a long, beautiful ride my love. Thank you.” 

Asami smiled, leaning her head on Korra’s shoulder. 

“Thank  _ you _ , my love. For making me laugh and smile my whole life, for making so many things easier for me, for being so good and kind and just… Thank you Korra. I couldn’t have wished for a better companion to live to a hundred and two with.” 

They remained silent for a few moments longer, until Korra spoke softly.

“The kids are outside.”

“I figured they’d want to be here.” Asami smiled, peering up to press a kiss to Korra’s lips, one last time. She remained there a moment longer, simply feeling her lips against her own, taking in the smoothness of them, the warmth and the soft puffs of breaths pressing onto her own lips. After a while, she leaned back down, her head falling to Korra’s shoulder softly as she burrowed into her neck, nosing the warm skin. “Yasuko and Tachi have been trying to make me laugh all day. They’re so much like you.” 

Korra chuckled softly, wrapping her arms tighter around Asami’s form, yet gentle enough. 

“I’m going to miss them.” She hummed, peppering Asami’s hair with soft kisses. “I’m going to miss you.”

“No you won’t.” Asami whispered, feeling the prickle of tears at the corners of her eyes. “Because we’ll meet there. Whatever comes after all this is finally done.” 

Korra hummed her agreement, barely managing to suppress the tears begging to fall. She knew one day they’d have to say goodbye to one another, knew that one day they’d come to that point where life would move past them and they’d have to leave it all behind. She knew and yet, no matter how prepared they were, it was still the hardest thing she ever had to do. 

“Should I let the kids in?” 

Asami pressed a soft kiss to her neck before whispering a soft ‘yes’.

A few moments later their eldest, Yasuko, walked in, followed by Ty and Tachi, their boys as they loved to call them still, even if they were already in their mid forties. After them followed Tachi’s wife and Ty’s husband, while Yasuko’s wife walked in last, smiling softly at Korra and Asami. 

Korra and Asami had adopted the kids after Asami’s fortieth birthday, first Yasuko, after nights and nights of talking about wanting to share their lives with someone, wanting to give someone the opportunity to have a good, loved life. The boys were twins they’d taken in some fifteen years later and Yasuko couldn’t have been a better big sister than she was. 

“How are you feeling?” Tachi asked Asami, sitting down beside them on the bed. 

“Tired.” Asami murmured, turning softly to meet her son’s eyes. “It’s not far now.” She smiled softly as she said the words, noticing how all three of them seemed to take in a short breath at those words, trying to glance away from her and hide their glistening eyes. “It’s alright, my loves. It’s been a long and beautiful life with all of you.” She reached out, slowly, and placed a hand of Tachi’s own, entwining their fingers softly. “You’ve all been… You’ve all been the light of our lives.” 

Korra noticed how Asami’s breathing had become shorter in the past hour or two, how her movements had slowed and she talked less, deciding instead to keep to herself, silent and warm as she so often tended to be. She looked over at their children, smiling as they each moved to sit down on the bed, Yasuko and Ty on Korra’s side and Tachi on Asami’s. They huddled closer as Asami’s breathing shallowed even further, and she began moving slowly to turn in Korra’s arms and press her back to Korra’s front. After a few moments of maneuvering, they finally managed to settle comfortably and Asami reached out to take hold of Korra’s hand as she held onto Tachi’s with her other one.

“Your mother and I, we…” Asami started, taking a deep breath before continuing. “We love you so very much.” The kids nodded, the tears in their eyes now slowly beginning to fall. “Though I am sorry we can’t be together a little longer.” She smiled softly, eyeing the three of them.

“Mama…” Yasuko started, her voice breaking, as Ty moved in to wrap his arms around his sister. “We’re gonna miss you so much.” She said, a soft cry escaping her as the words left her lips. 

“I know sweetie.” Asami half-whispered, her voice failing her slowly. “But we’ll see each other later, my loves. When your time comes, we’ll all have a nice family dinner and movie, yes?” 

They all chuckled through tears and Korra reached out a hand to cup Yasuko’s face softly, brushing away the tear tracks from her cheek gently. Ty leaned in closer too and she lifted her hand to his head, ruffling his hair before she settled back again. 

They fell silent then, a minute or two, and Asami refused to close her eyes, telling herself it wasn’t time yet, wanting to see all their faces just a little longer, savor this moment just a while longer, to be there just a couple more second before she had to say her final goodbye. She felt the moment coming when her heart seemingly skipped a beat or two and her breaths came slower, the need to breathe not really there anymore. She took one last glance at her children, smiled when she saw the murmur their ‘ _ I love you’s’  _ and slowly, barely managing, she tilted her head to Korra’s neck, letting herself rest fully on top of her. 

When she closed her eyes, finally, Asami knew it was the last time she’d ever close them again, and she gripped Korra’s hand tightly as she took in her last breath, before exhaling, the air tumbling over her lips and her grip on Korra’s hand fell away. 

Korra felt it through her whole being when Asami’s last breath left her. She’d hoped it would take more, she wished day in and day out they could just a little more time but… Life, at least that of a human, had to end at some point. And Asami had a long one, that they made sure of. So when she pulled her arms a little tighter, a little softer around her form, tilting her head to press a kiss to her hair, Korra let the tears roll down her cheeks before glancing one last time to their children. 

She then closed her own eyes, letting herself take in one last breath even though she never really needed air, and she turned off her life functions one by one, slowly shutting down until it all came to the last thing she had to do to not live another second without the love of her life - shut down her core, irreversibly. 

And with one last command in her code, Korra too, was gone. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long promised smutty chapter is finally here. Takes place a year after the war against Korra's makers, and marks the true beginning of Korra's and Asami's life together.

“Korra, did you remember to- Wait, what am I saying, of course you did.” Asami chuckled to herself, sitting down on the small, comfy sofa, eyes set on Korra walking over from the kitchen. “Sometimes I still forget.” 

“That I’m an AI?” Korra hummed before sitting down next to her, two steaming mugs in her hands. 

Asami grinned at her, taking one of the mugs and leaning over to Korra’s side, bumping their shoulders. “Can you blame me?” 

“Of course not.” Korra grinned right back at her and settled more comfortably in her seat, taking a sip of the hot liquid. “I hope I got this right. It all tastes the same to me, now that I actually understand.” She sighed and moved to set the mug down on the table before resting her hands in her lap. A sigh escaped her, one Asami picked up on almost before Korra had breathed it out, and she placed her own mug down on the small table, sitting up and pulling one leg under the other to face in Korra’s direction when she sat back down.

“Talk to me, sweetie. What’s the matter?” She leaned over, hands reaching out to take one of Korra’s own between them. 

“It’s just… Sometimes I wish I hadn’t become self-aware. I wish I was still Korra who knew nothing of who she truly was, who sometimes got confused with how good she was at everything but just assumed it was luck, the Korra that still believed she had a family, a loving home, a past she could fall back onto. Now I’m just…-”

“Now you are also Korra. Korra that was given the chance to realize she’d been lied to and opened her eyes, Korra that decided not to follow in those same lies she’d been fed all her life, Korra that may have mechanics running inside her brain but is more human than anyone I’ve ever met.” Asami finished instead of her, pulling her hands away from Korra’s and grabbing her face, pulling her in and squishing Korra’s cheeks. “You are so good, Korra. AI or not.” Asami said, voice thick with emotions and eyes glossy with unshed tears, matching those in Korra’s own eyes.

“I…” Korra started, unsure what to say. Silence enveloped them for a few anxious moments as they leaned into one another, foreheads pressed tight and lips hovering mere inches apart. “Thank you.” She finally whispered, her breath ghosting over Asami’s lips as she exhaled the words.

Asami pulled back with a small smile and a few stray tears slowly sliding down her cheeks. 

Korra huffed a small breath and slipped her hands up to cup Asami’s cheeks, sliding her thumbs over them and softly wiping the tears away. 

“Thank you.” She murmured once more before leaning in and capturing Asami’s lips in a slow, gentle kiss. 

It wasn’t the first time they’d kissed and Korra had already experienced the strange feeling of exhilaration she’d never felt before but it seemed that same feeling would always be there to accompany the taste of Asami’s lips on her own. No matter how small, how short their kisses were, each time Korra could feel the strange synthetic muscle in her chest pumping blood at a startling pace, and yet, as exhilarating as it may have been, kissing Asami was the calmest she’d ever felt. Or could feel, as an AI. 

Kissing Asami was both insanely wild and freeing and at the same time, felt like finally finding a home of her own. 

Korra began pulling back from the kiss but Asami would have none of it. 

She slipped a hand to the back of Korra’s neck, tugging on the short brown hairs growing there, and bringing their mouths into another kiss, she kissed Korra with far more purpose, running her teeth over Korra’s bottom lip, tugging it lightly before they were replaced by her tongue and she gave a warm, gentle swipe. 

Korra hummed into the kiss and let her hands fall down to Asami’s waist, brain already trying to figure out how to move her body so they could both be more comfortable. She began tugging softly on Asami’s shirt, trying to pull her over and onto her own lap but after a few moments of exchanging more kisses and bites, Asami pulled back with a glazed look in her eyes and her breaths clearly shortened.

“Maybe we should go upstairs?” Asami offered, tentative and gentle, both with her words and her hands now softly wrapped around Korra’s neck. 

When the war had ended and Korra no longer had any ties to her so called uncle - her maker - she had ideas and plans and instant solutions to her housing problem within seconds. Asami even offered they start living together since they had grown as close as two people can possibly be, with only the sexual aspect of their relationship missing. But then Korra decided she wanted to experience living,  _ truly living _ , by herself and Asami, as wonderful as ever, complied, with a promise of getting an apartment nearby and almost daily coffee dates. 

But right now they were in Asami’s apartment, after a long day of walking around Mars’ largest shopping centre and marvelling at how far the small settlement had actually come in the past year. Asami was too tired to walk Korra home and they’d still wanted to spend some more time together so Korra came along to Asami’s apartment. 

“Korra?” Asami’s voice startled Korra from her calculations, eyes snapping to Asami’s immediately. “We don’t have to do anything, sweetie. Maybe just lie down?” 

“No!” Korra all but shouted, surprising even herself with how fast the word had left her mouth. “I mean, yes, we should go upstairs.” She finished, swallowing the imaginary lump in her throat she knew she didn’t have but the small strips of humanity in her still resurfaced here and there, with an odd expression or two like that. 

Asami had a soft smile bordering with a smirk plastered on her face and Korra couldn’t help but chuckle when she shoved her away lightly. 

“Don’t be so smug.” 

“Me? Never.” Asami teased, slipping her hand to Korra’s and tugging her up as she laced their fingers together and pulled Korra towards the stairs. 

“You’re literally always smug.” Korra murmured, squeezing Asami’s hand, careful not to put too much pressure. Being self-aware did have its perks sometimes, one of them being the fact that she was now aware of just how strong she truly was and how gentle she had to be with others. 

Asami glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch Korra’s eyes trained on her backside, and she didn’t even bother stopping the laugh that burst out of her. 

Korra faked a small cough and ran her free hand through her hair, rubbing the back of her neck as she glanced away. “What’s so funny?” 

Asami stopped mid step, just short of the last stair, and turned around, eyes trained on Korra’s and her lips spread in a wide smile.

“You are.” She murmured and slid her arms around Korra’s shoulders, pressing their lips together. “Don’t think I didn’t notice what you were staring at just moments ago.” 

Korra shrugged, feeling the comforting weight of Asami’s arms braced on her shoulders. 

“I’d like to think I have a keen eye for true beauty and do appreciate the finer things in life.” 

Asami’s eyes widened for a moment before she burst out laughing again, forehead falling to Korra’s shoulder as her laughter was muffled in Korra’s shirt. 

“Oh my god!” Asami managed to mumble through the laughter. “Did you just refer to my butt as fine?” 

“I call ‘em like I see ‘em.” Korra looked up at Asami and nudged her nose, grinning into another kiss. 

Asami deepened it, licking her way into Korra’s mouth and sighing at the taste of Korra’s lips against her own, her arms tightening around Korra’s shoulders. She hummed before tugging Korra’s plump bottom lip between her teeth and then sucking on it, her own lips spreading in a grin as Korra let out what Asami assumed was supposed to be a growl.

“You’re such a do- Korra!” Asami was startled, her words caught in her throat, when Korra’s hand suddenly slipped down her back and underneath her backside, gripping to the back of her thighs as Korra pulled her in and lifted her up in those strong arms, clearly effortlessly, smirking up at Asami with an eyebrow raised in a challenge. 

“That’s what you get for teasing.” Korra murmured and walked up the remaining stairs, slowly making her way down the hall and to Asami’s bedroom. 

She knew the apartment well enough, had actually shared the bed with Asami on occasion, but as the door grew closer and they were just mere steps away from it, Korra felt the strange exhilaration in her chest again, the thumping of her synthetic heart and the buzzing in her head more than she ever had. She worried for the briefest of moments until Asami’s lips captured her own again and all coherent thought seemed to leave her whirring mind. The door was only a couple of steps away and yet it seemed still so far, too far even, and Korra had an urge, a need to somewhat claim and ravage the woman in her arms, a sudden stirring in the pit of her stomach that even her advanced brain could not explain.

So she steered away from the door, pressed Asami hard against the nearby wall and pushed herself closer to her, revelling in the moan that fell from Asami’s lips just moments later when her lips latched onto the fine skin of Asami’s neck and she pulled the flesh between them, sucking hard. She made sure not to pull too hard though, not to put too much pressure because she was a robot after all and her strength was beyond what any human could handle, but it seemed to be just the right amount of pressure because Asami started bucking her hips forward, moving them in time with Korra’s bites and licks, moaning out each time Korra would pull her skin between her teeth, painting it in new shades of red and purple. It didn’t last long, but Korra made sure to mar Asami’s skin from shoulder to the sharp line of her jaw, and satisfied with her work she pulled away just barely, still holding Asami tight against the wall, her lips curled in a smirk. 

Asami whined at the loss of Korra’s lips and the warmth she exuded on her skin, but before she could voice her protests, Korra’s hold on her tightened yet again and she pushed them away from the wall, striding towards the bedroom in a few short steps. 

As she walked inside, Asami in her arms, Korra moved to nudge the light switch with her elbow but Asami groaned in protest, lips latched onto Korra’s neck and teeth pulling at the skin, urging her to move them to the bed. 

“Alright, alright,” Korra murmured with a chuckle, swiftly moving over and setting Asami down, her own body following instantly. She had her arms braced on each side of Asami’s head, leaning on her elbows, grinning when Asami refused to let go of her neck, actually growling when Korra tried to move away from her. “At least let me turn on the bedside lamp?” Korra questioned and moved one hand down Asami’s body, setting it softly on her hip, rubbing small circles over her shirt. 

Asami finally seemed pleased enough with the amount of bruises on Korra’s neck and she let go of her, arms slipping down slowly until only her fingers were tangled in Korra’s hair at the back of her head. 

“If you must.” Asami murmured with a smile. 

Korra visibly swallowed and pulled back, kneeling in her position between Asami’s legs. 

“I want to see you.” She half-whispered and reached out to turn on the light. 

Asami’s hands now rested on Korra’s hips and she slipped them underneath her t-shirt, her smile growing even wider. “I’m right here, silly. You can see me, can’t you?” 

Korra groaned, rolling her eyes. But Asami’s hands were eager, fingers needy as she scratched her way down those taut, chiseled muscles of Korra’s abdomen and Korra didn’t even bother trying to understand the shiver that ran through her body when Asami’s fingers settled at the hem of her pants. 

“Can I take this off?” Asami murmured and tugged at Korra’s t-shirt, eyes set on her own, gaze careful and warm. 

Korra didn’t voice her answer but simply moved to pull the fabric over her head in one swift and agile motion, thoughtlessly throwing it away somewhere in the far corner of the room. She’d have plenty time to find it later, if the need for a t-shirt would even arise. 

Asami’s eyes widened at the sight, those same muscles she could feel beneath her fingers now on full display for her to look at, and it certainly was a gorgeous view. But looking wasn’t enough, she needed more, they both did, so she moved her hands back to Korra’s abdomen, tracing little patterns with her fingers and occasionally scratching over the skin, grinning at the angry red marks she was leaving behind. 

Korra itched to leave the same kind of marks on Asami’s body, and everywhere, not just the taut skin of her abdomen, but Asami was so beautiful lying down and gazing up at her with that loving look in her eyes, Korra couldn’t bring herself to do anything about it. 

As if she could read her mind though, Asami pushed herself up, first only supporting herself on her elbows then all the way through, sitting up so they were almost face to face, and in one swift motion she pulled her own shirt over her head, throwing it on the floor beside the bed as her lips immediately found Korra’s and she pulled her in a deep, needy kiss, sucking on her lips and nibbling softly. Her hands moved over Korra’s body, slowly at first, as if learning every curve, but the longer they kissed, the faster Asami’s fingers moved over Korra’s arms, shoulders, hips, until she settled one hand over Korra’s hip and the other remained roaming her exquisite form, inching up until her fingers grazed the fabric of Korra’s bra. 

Korra couldn’t find it in herself to move a single muscle, completely taken over by the way Asami’s lips moved against her own and how skillful Asami’s fingers seemed to be. When she felt the grazing over her ribs, Korra finally startled out of her dazed stupor and moved her own hands slowly, fingers catching on Asami’s hips and teasing the soft skin there. Asami’s fingers remained where they were, a somewhat soothing presence in a whirlpool of unknown emotions, and Korra was grateful for the slow pace, albeit so,  _ so _ eager to move faster. 

When Asami’s fingers inched further up, questioning and careful, Korra hummed into their kiss and gripped Asami’s hips tighter, pressing them as close as possible, hoping her actions would convey what she so desperately desired.

And just moments later, she got her wish. 

Asami slipped her hand under the offending garment, fingers grazing ever so softly over the supple flesh underneath, until she could cup Korra’s breast fully, squeezing lightly and moaning out when she felt the hardened peak press against her palm and the weight settle fully in her hand. It was a feeling like no other, so warm and soft and wonderful, and Asami wished they’d done this sooner but neither were ready just yet and in the end, there was no time more perfect than the evening they were spending together. 

Korra shuddered when Asami squeezed again, her fingers digging into Asami’s hips harder, groaning out in pleasure when Asami pushed her bra away and flicked her nipple, pulling it between her fingers and tugging softly. 

“Oh… Oh wow…” Korra mumbled, arching into Asami’s touch.

It only spurred Asami more so she slipped a hand to Korra’s back, expertly pinching the clasp with her fingers until the hooks slipped off and she felt the garment slide open, the straps slipping down Korra’s shoulders slightly. She leaned in then, taking one breast in her mouth and lashing her tongue over it, all the while pulling the straps down Korra’s arms and yanking the bra off. She threw it away not even bothering to glance where it had fallen, her mind focused only on making Korra feel as good as possible. 

Korra moaned and arched her back even further into Asami’s touch, hands slipping to her head and fingers lacing through her soft hair when she felt Asami’s teeth tug at her nipple and the warm suckle that followed, making her shudder and moan out in pleasure. She gripped tight, nails scratching Asami’s scalp, and pulled her even closer, groaning as Asami moaned around the supple mound in her mouth. 

When Asami finally released her breast, she moved to capture the other one between her lips but Korra pulled her up in a fierce kiss, all tongue and teeth, before pushing Asami down on the bed and settling against her. She threw one leg over Asami’s and pressed herself against her strong thigh, groaning out and tugging Asami’s lip between her teeth. She bit her hard, nearly drawing blood, but Asami only moaned out in response and Korra soothed the bite with a swipe of her tongue, moving her lips down to Asami’s chin and over her jaw until she reached her neck, eager to mark the soft skin there even more than she already had. 

She leaned on one arm and let her other roam free, fingers scratching down Asami’s hips and grazing up until she felt lace beneath the tip of her fingers. 

“May I?” Korra murmured into Asami’s neck.

Asami only nodded, already arching up even before Korra’s fingers slipped beneath the lacey fabric, cupping her breast and squeezing it in her palm. She could feel the way Korra shuddered against her body, but it wasn’t until Korra tugged at her nipple that Asami moaned out, pushing her chest more firmly into Korra’s touch.

Korra pulled her hand away, only to slide it underneath Asami’s back, flicking at the clasp with her fingers and ridding Asami of her bra within seconds. 

“Eager,” Asami chuckled, hands in Korra’s hair, pulling her in for another kiss before murmuring, almost desperately. “Touch me more, Korra. Please.” 

The words seemed to be the exact thing Korra needed to be pushed into almost an overdrive. 

Her lips were back on Asami’s in an instant, but only for the briefest of moments to give her the dirtiest kiss Asami hadn’t even thought possible, and then she was biting and licking her way lower, marking and bruising the skin, until her lips circled a pert nipple and she tugged at it with her teeth, eliciting a loud groan from Asami. She palmed the other breast, moaning out around the flesh between her lips when Asami bucked her hips up and groaned again, hands flying to Korra’s shoulders and nails leaving marks over them. 

Asami urged her to move lower, to kiss and bite and lick below her breasts and much, much lower where she needed her the most, but Korra had other plans, it seemed.

She pushed herself up a little, unbuttoning her own pants in one swift movement and shrugging out of them, all the while supporting herself on her other arm. Asami stared at her, at the strong legs that sprang out of the confines of the tight fabric of Korra’s jeans, the way her muscles flexed and moved as she flung them across the room and how she set her jaw when she turned back to meet Asami’s eyes, all hunger and need in those gorgeous blue irises. 

“Lift up.” Korra murmured, tugging on Asami’s jeans, and smirked when Asami raised her hips barely a second later. “Seems I’m not the only one eager here.” 

“Stop talking.” Asami all but growled, palming Korra’s breast hard and biting her own lip at the sight of Korra’s eyes closing and lips falling open in a sigh of pleasure. 

It took a moment longer for Korra to catch her bearings and finally tug Asami’s pants down her legs and off, all the while shuddering because Asami’s hand seemed to be permanently attached to her breast, squeezing and kneading. When she settled back against her, she braced herself a little more comfortably and grabbed Asami’s hand, pushing it above her head and biting down on her lip. She then pulled back and moved her hand back to Asami’s breast, flicking her nipple and smirking when Asami arched into her hand yet again. She slid it lower then, softly moving over taut muscles, nails scratching down soft skin, until she could feel more lace beneath her fingers, the small, barely-there underwear that didn’t leave much to imagination but was still too much in the way.

Asami shuddered when Korra brushed a single digit over her clothed mound and slipped just a little lower, cupping her through the fabric and feeling the wetness and warmth seep into her palm. She groaned when Asami rolled her hips and moved her hand away slowly, her fingers catching on the side of Asami’s underwear.

“Korra, please…” Asami started but her words were cut off when she heard the sound of lace being torn apart. Her eyes flew open in an instant and she looked down, only to see a grin on Korra’s lips and the thinnest part of her underwear on the side of her leg now seemingly cut apart.

“You did not jus-” 

Korra caught her lips in a kiss then, licking her way in and sucking on Asami’s tongue before she pulled back, her smirk back in place. 

“I did.” 

Asami tried sounding angry, or at least offended but all that came out was a small whine when Korra’s hand slipped between her parted legs again and cupped her, this time without anything between them. 

“Korra…” She murmured, reaching out to wrap her arms around Korra’s neck as she kissed the corner of her lips, rolling her hips slightly. “Please..” 

Korra pulled away from her, just barely to be able to look her in the eyes before whispering back, one last thread of insecurity in her voice.

“Are you sure?” 

Asami looked at her then, all the confidence suddenly gone from Korra’s eyes, the rush, the need and want, all pushed aside with this enormous weight of being who she was and still being so incredibly insecure in what they had and shared pressing on her shoulders. So Asami wound her arms tighter around Korra’s neck, pulled her in until their foreheads pressed close and she murmured, not wavering once in her speech.

“Korra, listen to me now. I am so deeply in love with you, do you understand that? I don’t care that you don’t have a beating human heart, as long as I know that your heart is bigger and warmer and kinder than anyone’s ever was. You are so beautiful sweetie, so strong and so smart and you are so much more than you think you are. So much more than what they made you to be, and you are all I want. I want you, I want this. So please, just, for the love of all that’s sacred, touch me before I kick you off this bed and finish this myself.” 

Korra shuddered at the words falling from Asami’s mouth, and the tiniest of sobs escaped her, all the weight on her shoulders seemingly finally lifted. She knew she would never be human, but she could be as human as a robot could get. And if Asami loved her, then Korra be damned if she wouldn’t love her back with all she had. 

So she pushed her insecurities away, all the fears and doubts, and let herself enjoy the moment fully, chuckling through another sob and leaning down to kiss Asami once more. They kissed slowly, relearning the softness and warmth of each other’s touch, and as her confidence slowly returned, Korra let her hand move back down Asami’s slender form, palm pressed close and tight to her skin, caressing and soothing, until she reached the small, trimmed patch of hair at Asami’s mound and brushed her fingers through it, swallowing Asami’s hum in another deep kiss. When Asami’s hips slowly rolled against her hand, Korra slid it between her legs, finally coming to rest where she’d wanted to be all along. 

Asami sighed into her mouth and tugged at her hair a little, scratching her nails over Korra’s scalp and urging her to move and give her what she so desperately needed by then. They were close, but still not close enough, and Asami craved more, wanted more, needed more. 

And more Korra gave her when she cupped her gently, feeling Asami’s wetness all but seep through her fingers before slowly separating her folds and lazily running her fingers through them. It still wasn’t quite enough, but Asami knew Korra would give her everything and more and so she waited, winding her fingers through Korra’s soft hair and whispering sweet nothings in her ear, encouraging and warm with her words. 

Korra had her forehead pressed to Asami’s shoulder, humming with every gentle word Asami whispered in her ear, and her fingers worked slowly through her slick folds, curious and bewildered by how wonderful it was to feel Asami like that. She could sense her steadily getting more pliant, full of sighs and soft murmurs whenever Korra’s fingers slipped a little lower to gather more wetness, hips slowly lifting, almost to pull her in. But Korra wanted to explore, wanted to never stop touching Asami this way, wanted to take her time so her fingers moved back up, circling the bud of her clit and making Asami buck her hips at the contact. She tapped the straining bud with the gentlest of touches, revelling in the moans that spilled from Asami’s lips, then slid her fingers back down through the slick folds, groaning when Asami’s hips rolled into her hand again. 

“Korra, please, stop teasing.” Asami whispered, teeth catching onto Korra’s lobe and biting hard, before she continued. “I need you, ah!” 

Another moan escaped her when Korra circled her clit again, pulling the now swollen nub from its hood and with a featherlight touch ghosting over it, trying out different patterns and making Asami moan out with each new movement. She ducked away from Asami’s hold and was kissing her way down her chest, sucking one peak and quickly moving to the other, before Asami could even catch her bearings. 

Before she knew it, Korra was slowly but steadily licking her way down Asami’s abdomen and as her lips settled on Asami’s hips, teasing one side then the other with her tongue, Korra looked up momentarily, voice throaty when she spoke.

“I want to taste you.” She murmured, not really a question but one was certainly evident in her words nonetheless.

Asami eagerly nodded, craving at least a little relief which she knew Korra’s tongue would provide her with. Korra’s lips seemed to move even slower then but when she finally settled fully between Asami’s legs, and looked up to meet her eyes from between them, Asami sighed in pleasure just from the short puffs of Korra’s warm breaths ghosting over her drenched core.

Then Korra’s tongue made contact with her and Asami’s eyes rolled back in her head, her vision going white. 

Korra moaned at the first taste, enjoying the salty yet somehow sweet taste as she softly pressed her tongue between Asami’s folds, caressing and exploring at the same time, before moving up to the swollen nub of her clit and lashing her tongue over it, at first simply to see what Asami prefered more, but when she felt the bucking of her hips and the groans filling the air, Korra settled on suckling the swollen nub in her mouth and lashing her tongue around it and moaning out when she felt even more wetness coat her chin. 

Asami couldn’t help the bucking of her hips as Korra’s ministrations continued, making her moan out every few seconds when her tongue would circle her clit, making her vision go white. Maybe Korra hadn’t done this ever before but just as with everything else, she paid very close attention and it took her no more than a few seconds to figure out what Asami liked more than anything else. 

It lasted a few minutes, the soft suckling and the lapping of her tongue before Korra finally dipped inside for a proper taste, gathering all the wetness and trying to taste as much of Asami as possible because the taste was more than just addictive.

Making Asami moan out like that, making her squirm and buck her hips and plead in hushed words and breathy whispers was more than Korra had ever dreamed of and quickly becoming her new favorite activity. So she swirled her tongue through Asami’s wetness once more before suckling on her clit and moving back up, kissing her way over taut muscles and pert breasts until she reached Asami’s lips and captured them in another kiss, smirking when Asami groaned at the taste of herself. She had drawn her arm up to lean against the palm of her hand, and set her free hand back between Asami’s legs, fingers immediately slipping to the comforting wetness of Asami’s folds. 

“Korra, I…” Asami started, words failing her as Korra pinched her clit and made her hips jerk wildly before releasing the swollen, throbbing nub and moving to circle it softly once more. “I need you Korra, I ne-” 

Korra didn’t let her finish. She slipped two fingers inside her dripping core, pleased when she felt the clinging tightness but no resistance, and a throaty, dirty moan fell from Asami’s lips instead of the words she’d meant to say. 

Her hips jerked almost violently and when Korra pulled out Asami whined, only to moan out loudly once again when Korra thrust her fingers back inside, with more force this time, and curled them knowingly, trying to find that sweet spot she knew would make Asami go absolutely wild. 

She didn’t manage at the first try, but Korra learned from her mistakes faster than any human could and by her third thrust she was positioned perfectly, her palm pressing onto the hard nub of Asami’s clit and the curl of her fingers grazing over the swollen spot inside her. She could feel just how close Asami was, with her muscles clenched so hard and the constant bucking of her hips, but she Korra wanted to make it last longer, she wanted to give Asami all the pleasure she possibly could so the next few times when she pulled out, she didn’t move back inside but slid her drenched fingers through Asami’s folds and circled her clit, making Asami shudder and clench around nothing. 

Asami couldn’t possibly take it any longer. 

She’d experienced pleasure in her life before, but nothing could ever come even close to what Korra was making her feel then and there. 

Her insides felt as if they were on fire, ready to burst and overflow her warmth, she was shuddering with each thrust of Korra’s fingers, and she was so, _ so  _ close, if only Korra would just curl her fingers a little more and press her clit and a little harder. So she moved to slide her own hand between her legs, moaning out as her hips jerked when her fingers slipped over her clit just as Korra had thrust back inside her with renewed vigor. 

“Ah, ah.” Korra mumbled, her voice breathy and low, as she pulled her fingers out and swatted at Asami’s arm, pushing it away. “All mine.” She all but growled and had she been inside Asami, she would have made her come that very instant.

Still, her attempts thwarted, Asami did the only thing she could at that moment. 

She cupped her own breast and pinched her nipple, pleased when Korra slipped her fingers back inside, the pace of her thrusts increasing each time she pushed inside. 

It took only three more thrusts and a knowing curl of Korra’s two fingers to make Asami moan out harder than she had so far, her hips jerking violently, thrashing against Korra’s arms, as whiteness exploded behind her eyelids and her insides felt as if they were bursting with immense pleasure. 

Korra watched in awe as Asami threw her head back in pleasure, screaming out her name and arching her back as she continued to thrust and curl her fingers through Asami’s climax, rolling the palm of her hand roughly over her clit. It wasn’t until Asami fell back down on the bed with a thump and her hand moved to push Korra’s on away did she stop with her movements, slowly slipping out but her hand remained gentle between Asami’s legs, cupping her as Korra leaned over her fully, her weight a comforting presence and her soft, whispered words soothing Asami through the afterglow. 

They relaxed into each other after that, comfortable to simply lie there, skin pressed to skin, feeling each other’s breathing slow down to a normal pace, and for a few minutes, Asami let herself even doze off. 

“That was…” Korra murmured next to Asami’s ear, lips grazing over it slightly. “You are so beautiful.” She whispered, pressing the softest of kisses to the sweat slicked skin of Asami’s neck, just below her ear. 

Asami only smiled and burrowed closer to her, reaching over behind Korra and pulling the rumpled sheet over them. 

“Mind if we rest a little?” She half-whispered, pecking Korra’s cheek repeatedly between her words?

Korra chuckled, humming her answer. “Of course not.” 

 

It was about half an hour later when Asami straddled Korra’s hips and murmured ‘ _ Alright, it’s my turn now’ _ that Korra knew their night was only just beginning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Confused? A little lost? 
> 
> Promise it'll all be explained throughout the chapters.  
> If you need a little guidance, feel free to send me a message on my tumblr, @kittymannequin.


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